A recent revelation claiming that Israel had supplied high-tech weapons to Pakistan has caused a flutter. Although vehemently denied by the governments of Israel and Pakistan, the fact that the United Kingdom’s department for business, innovation and skills, which assesses export licences, had listed Pakistan as one of the destinations to which Israel exported arms with British components in 2010 and 2011 has generated bewilderment.
As Israel’s single largest customer buying up to 50 per cent of its total weapons exports, India has reasons to be anxious if the allegations are true. The items mentioned by the British as transfers from Israel to Pakistan include electronic warfare suites, radar and optical target acquisition systems and aero engines.
Such sophisticated equipment could retrofit Pakistan’s American-heavy Air Force capacities and enhance its conventional fighting power against India.
If one were to extrapolate further (and the unpredictable history of Israeli military diplomacy does permit peregrinations), what if there were direct sales of other military hardware from Israel to Pakistan without the “third party” route involving British components? It would be a sacrilege from the Indian point of view if Pakistan clandestinely received, say, Israeli weapons that neutralise Israeli materiel which India uses to secure its porous border with Pakistan.
As an Islamic Republic that does not recognise Israel, Pakistan could be interpreted as pulling a fast one on the whole world if the details of defence dealing contained in the British records are true. The former Pakistani dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had always shown a pragmatic streak in wanting to open channels with Israel.
In 2012, much after he relinquished power, he gave an interview to Haaretz explaining why Israel and Pakistan must cooperate.
Albeit such candour would be anathema to anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli Islamist zealots in Pakistan, Musharraf argued that an Israel-Pakistan rapprochement would help Islamabad counterbalance New Delhi.
“Israel has always been pro-India against Pakistan… advising them (Indians) and cooperating on intelligence, which is a very big deal. Pakistan adjusting its stance towards Israel has the advantage of possibly breaking those anti-Pakistan activities.”
In a cloak-and-dagger world, the motives of Pakistan to try and court Israel are obvious. But why, if the British government’s report is accurate, would Israel want to jeopardise its business and political relationship with its No. 1 client, India?
Analysts have come up with varied rationales. One is that Israel may be subtly sending India a warning not to cosy up to Iran by demonstrating that Tel Aviv can hold the hand offered by the opportunistic military top brass in Rawalpindi.
A related speculation is that since Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country at odds with Iran on the question of protecting Shia minorities, Israel is conveying a hint to Tehran that it could be surprised by its eastern neighbour, Islamabad.
Iran’s official Press TV has closely followed the revelations of Israel arming Pakistan, indicating that there is great interest in Tehran about what exactly happened with those British arms component sales.
Researchers have documented a pattern in Israeli defence diplomacy to arm governments that can check the activities of Iran and its allied militias. In 2009, the then Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman visited numerous African nations with defence contractors in tow and called for closer ties “in view of efforts by countries like Iran to influence them (Africans) and establish themselves there”.
But can Pakistan realistically be a means for Israel to apply pressure on Iran? Despite the helping of anti-Iranian guerrilla groups like Jundullah by Pakistan, the notion seems far-fetched that Pakistan can be a means to undermine Iran.
Where Israel is accused of secretly exporting weapons to Sunni Arab countries like Egypt and the UAE, it is obvious that the strategic motive is to contain Iran. The Daily Telegraph quotes an Israeli security expert, Yiftah Shapir, as saying: “These reports (of Israel arming Arab states, including those which do not officially accept the right of Israel to exist) do not surprise me… there is now much more direct arms sales between Israel and the Gulf states, as we now see ourselves as being on the same side against Iran.”
Yet, Pakistan is an immediate neighbour of Iran and the antagonism that the Sunni Arab states have towards Iran is not quite matched by Pakistan. The Islamabad-Tehran relationship is more nuanced than an outright sectarian lens would imply.
The other line of guesswork on the supposed backdoor military relationship between Israel and Pakistan is the purely commercial one. While no sane arms exporter would play to lose its main customer, that is India, there could be a diversification strategy in Israel to sell to more countries in order to have flexibility with prices. No manufacturer likes a market structure that is a monopsony (where there is only one main buyer).
Linked to this are bureaucratic turf wars within Israel between the foreign ministry and the defence ministry, on who to export weapons to and why. We got a glimpse of this mess when Israel’s state comptroller held the defence ministry’s director-general, Udi Shani, responsible for violating export laws by approving foreign arms deals to three unnamed countries “despite opposition from the foreign ministry”. The same Udi Shani is on record commenting that arms exports are “the most lucrative industry for the state of Israel”.
We may never know if Israel indeed went to Pakistan to earn extra bucks, or if some unknown saboteurs intent on sowing doubts in the India-Israel equation deliberately marked weapons not shipped by the state of Israel to Pakistan as official sales.
This is a delicate time for reassuring New Delhi that not much (if any) Israeli weaponry has reached Islamabad. In the past, Israel was forced by the US to stop supplying defence wares to China. India has the market power vis-a-vis Israel to seek similar guarantees vis-a-vis Pakistan.
Yet, the murky nature of the international arms trade should alert us to the reality that anything can happen. The key for India is to maintain mutually beneficial ties with Israel while gauging, via classified and open-source intelligence, the decision-making calculus which informs Israel’s military diplomacy.
– The writer is dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs
Israel is stupid for procurement of components from EU suppliers.
The British threw Israel under the bus and Germany is not far behind.
German daily slammed for depicting Israel as Moloch
Simon Wiesenthal Center calls on Germans to speak out against Süddeutsche Zeitung cartoon
Cartoon Caption: “Germany is serving. For decades now, Israel has been given weapons, in parts for free. Israel’s enemies think it is a ravenous Moloch. Peter Beinart deplores this situation.”
IMI unveils new long-range guided rocket
Israel Military Industries has completed development of its MARS long-range precision air-launched guided rocket.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000858881&fid=1725
Israel is stupid for procurement of components from EU suppliers.
The British threw Israel under the bus and Germany is not far behind.
German daily slammed for depicting Israel as Moloch
Simon Wiesenthal Center calls on Germans to speak out against Süddeutsche Zeitung cartoon
Cartoon Caption: “Germany is serving. For decades now, Israel has been given weapons, in parts for free. Israel’s enemies think it is a ravenous Moloch. Peter Beinart deplores this situation.”
IMI unveils new long-range guided rocket
Israel Military Industries has completed development of its MARS long-range precision air-launched guided rocket.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000858881&fid=1725
Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) has completed development of its MARS long-range precision air-launched guided rocket. The multipurpose rocket weighs half a ton. IMI says that it has successfully undergone a series of tests at training grounds, with good hits on the targets predefined in the mission planning stage.
IMI’s Rocket Systems Division has been developing the MARS system for several years. It is based on analysis of future battlefield needs, and will soon be offered to the IDF and other armies, subject to obtaining export permits from the Ministry of Defense.
To market MARS to foreign countries, IMI customized the system to wide range of fighter jets used by modern air forces. IMI says that the MARS can be used by the US-made F-15, F-16, and F-18, Russian-made MiG 25, MiG 29, Sukhoi 27, and Sukhoi 30, the Pan-European Eurofighter used by several NATO militaries, France’s Mirage, and the Israeli-made Kfir 7. Although the Israel Air Force does not use the Kfir, it is in service in Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and Colombia, and by the US Air Force for training missions.
The MARS rocket is 4.4 meters long, has an estimated range of 100 kilometers, and uses GPS to navigate to its predefined target. IMI says that the rocket’s high speed, long-range precision guidance, and fire-and-forget system enables it to be used against fixed and mobile targets, even if they are protected by anti-aircraft systems. This gives planes the ability to target communications centers, radar stations, munitions bunkers, and airfields while staying out of range of anti-aircraft systems.
Two months ago, foreign media reported that the Israel Air Force attacked a weapons convoy in Syria, which was carrying game-changing weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. Some of the reports claimed that, in an effort to avoid violating Syrian air space, the Israeli jets launched the missiles against the convoy from Lebanese air space. Israel has not commented on these reports.
“In the case of MARS, there is capability to quickly and accurately silence a wide range of targets from a distance, which is already making the rocket very attractive for armies around the world which are showing exceptional interest in it,” IMI VP and Rocket Systems Division general manager Yuval Sharoni told “Globes”. “The rocket is ready, after successfully undergoing tests. Besides being supersonic, it carries technologies which different IMI divisions developed in recent years to meet the needs of the current battlefield, and which are expected to meet the needs of the future battlefield.”
Development of the MARS rocket joins a number of major projects developed by IMI in the past few years, with the goal of refreshing and updating its products portfolio. IMI, a government company, targets its new products line to new foreign markets. In addition to the MARS rocket, it is offering a range of customized rocket and artillery, and munitions, which received their baptism of fire during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
yamit82 Said:
Interesting link, especially the sharia conversation which showed how easy it is for the sunni clerical propaganda network to reverse positions as desired. Basically,sharia,quran, hadith appear to allow the propagation of any notion and/or its opposite. along with the clerical infrastructure mind control of sheeple is highly successful. I tend to believe that many in the western power/control elite have a strong admiration for the control possibilities available through islam. It is a vehicle and infrastructure demonstrating an enormously high level of success globally today. Constantine converted the roman empire to christianity so I could imagine that at some future point the possibility of the Pope submitting and converting to Islam(would make a good novel)
I have not answered your query on the bodansky article yet as it was so long. I was not comfortable with some of his details eg that Iran and china were in competition(my gut says they cooperate as chinese intelligence guided syrian army bombing recently and the sides appear to be clearly drawn up to me). Along these same lines I needed to look into his details regarding the alliances developing now in africa. eg I am not sure which of these are iran linked and which are gcc linked: i believe they are on opposite sides. the main point of interest to me was that it brought together the african arab springs and eu interventions in a logical pattern.
Video: Kuwaiti MP’s defend dealing with Israel
Following Haaretz report, Israel denies selling arms to Pakistan
Defense Ministry says won’t sell military equipment to Islamabad, citing Israel’s strategic relationship with India.
Indian Defense Reports:
Israel has exported security equipment over the past five years to Pakistan and four Arab countries, Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a British government report as saying.
In addition to Pakistan, Israel has exported arms and security equipment to Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, the report says.
The report deals with British government permits for arms and security equipment exports and was released by Britain’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The department oversees security exports and publishes regular reports on permits granted or denied to purchase arms, military equipment or civilian items that are monitored.
Haaretz reported that from January 2008 to December 2012, British authorities processed hundreds of Israeli applications to purchase military items containing British components for use by the Israel Defence Forces, or to go into systems exported to third countries.
The UK government reports also list the countries to which Israel sought to export the items. Among Israel’s clients are countries with which it does not have diplomatic ties.
The report says that in 2011 Israel sought to purchase British components to export radar systems to Pakistan, as well as electronic warfare systems, Head-up Cockpit Displays ?(HUD?), parts for fighter jets and aircraft engines, optic target acquisition systems, components of training aircraft, and military electronic systems.
Prior to that, in 2010, Israel applied for permits to export electronic warfare systems and HUDs with components from Britain to Pakistan. Also in 2010, Israel sought permits to supply Egypt and Morocco with Israeli electronic warfare systems and HUD systems that use British parts, the Haaretz said in its report.
In 2009, Israel requested permits from British authorities to process security equipment exports to Algeria, Morocco and the UAE. The exports processing south for Algeria and the UAE also including permits to supply components for drones.
According to the British reports, Israel’s other clients for military exports over the past five years include India, Singapore, Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Portugal, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Holland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Macedonia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Switzerland, Ecuador, Mexico, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Equatorial Guyana, Poland and Argentina.