CANCEL CAPITAL FACTORY!

Israel has established itself as a significant developer and distributor of advanced military technologies, leveraging its operational experiences in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria to market its products as “battle-tested.” This designation implies that these technologies have been proven effective through actual combat use. However, the underlying reality is that such effectiveness is often demonstrated through the employment of these technologies in highly brutal actions against largely civilian populations.[7]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, stand as a pivotal element within Israel’s war economy, with the country being a dominant force in drone technology, accounting for over 60% of the worldwide drone exports as of 2017.[8]

The advancement and refinement of Israeli drone technology are significantly informed by their operational deployment in Palestinian territories. Drones have become a staple in Israel’s military operations, offering persistent surveillance over Gaza. The use of drones in wars against Gaza is brutal and aggressive, leading to a series of targeted assaults, missile strikes, and extrajudicial mass killings. Such operations have resulted in the loss of civilian lives and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Gaza serves a dual purpose within the framework of Israel’s military-industrial complex, transforming acts of colonial aggression into opportunities for both operational testing and commercial showcasing. On one hand, Gaza has emerged as an open-air laboratory for drone warfare, setting the stage for the biopolitical trial of new lethal technologies. This situation casts a dark shadow over the commodification of such technologies, rooted in practices that has nothing to do with “military necessity” but rather an outright cruelty. On the other hand, Gaza provides a real-world backdrop for Israeli defense companies to showcase their technological advancements, effectively turning the besieged strip into marketing platforms for military hardware.[9]

In every Israeli military offensive against Gaza from 2008 to 2023, drones have been central to its strategy. Models such as the Hermes from Elbit Systems and the Heron Eitan from Israeli Aerospace Industries, equipped with advanced features like self-guiding Spike missiles, have been key to these aggressions. Each Gaza offensive has acted as a testing ground and a development platform for these drones, leading to their refinement and commercial sale.

Source: https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1655307

You can view a compendium of companies gathered by the Quakers here. Additionally, you can read UN Special Rapporteur Francesa Albanese’s report called “Economy of Genocide”.

The Israeli genocidal assault on Gaza exposed the stark and calculated approach of its military operations, specifically targeting civilian infrastructures. Insights from former Israeli intelligence officials, reported by the liberal Israeli publications +972 Magazine and Local Call, highlighted a strategic intent to terrorize civilians through the targeted bombing of essential civilian facilities. A strategy, as one ex-intelligence officer put it, turned into a “mass assassination factory,” focusing on residential areas, schools, banks, and government buildings, all deemed “power targets.” The reports shed light on the sophisticated employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in warfare, particularly through Project Habsora “The Gospel”.[1] This technology, by analyzing surveillance data, automates the generation of target lists, contributing to the high civilian death toll in Gaza. This tactic represents a landmark in the application of AI in military operations, with Gaza becoming an unprecedented site for such AI-driven campaigns, especially following the first AI-led attack in 2021.

This genocide sheds light on the entanglement of Israeli nationalistic militarism, the US complicity, the testing of lethal weapons, and geopolitical pursuits, all converging towards the objectives of sustained war, colonial expansion, and the systematic eradication of Palestinians. In particular, it reveals the extent to which Israel’s very existence and function, as a settler-colonial formation, is organically tied to an expansive military-industrial complex that fundamentally shaped its society and culture, the economy, foreign policy relations, and external support.

Israel’s establishment in 1948 set the stage for the development of an expansive military-industrial complex, intricately woven into its economic, societal, and political frameworks, extending beyond the traditional scope of defense operations. This complex system, incorporates a wide array of capabilities, including advanced arms manufacturing, dual-use technology development, private security innovations, strategic capital investments, and elaborate export-import strategies. Furthermore, it offers vast employment opportunities across the public and private sectors.

A diverse set of actors drives this militarized matrix, broadening its impact beyond the confines of military and security domains to encompass various financial stakeholders. These include investors, contractors, and technology firms, Jewish capital, especially those originating from the American military domain and finances. The influence of Israel’s military-economic initiatives also permeates non-military sectors, establishing collaborative engagements with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, labor unions, and scientific research communities.

This melding of militaristic objectives with civilian life has fostered a seamless integration of military and economic interests across the Israeli society. The result is a vast, interconnected network where the agendas of military-economic entities are deeply embedded within the Zionist ethos, influencing a wide spectrum of societal and policy-making processes.

Source: https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1655307