Research on German Arms Exports to Israel (-)

Key Chapter Title List

1. Introduction
2. Abstract
3. Source Materials
4. Germany's Weapons Exports to Israel
5. References
6. Contributors
7. About Forensis
8. Appendix A: The Connection Between the German Weapons Manufacturing Industry and Israel
9. Appendix B: Weapons Export Charts

Document Introduction

Following Israel's large-scale military offensive against Gaza in October 2023, the Palestinian territories have descended into a severe humanitarian disaster. As of March 29, 2024, 32,623 Palestinians have been killed, 75,092 injured, 1.7 million are on the brink of man-made famine, and civilian infrastructure such as healthcare, education, and agriculture has been systematically destroyed. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. UN experts have explicitly called for an immediate halt to weapons transfers to Israel, and several countries have already suspended weapons export licenses to Israel.

Against this backdrop, this report focuses on Germany, a major global weapons exporter, and its long-term military cooperation with Israel. It systematically reviews core data and facts regarding German weapons exports to Israel from 2003 to 2023. As Israel's second-largest supplier of conventional weapons, Germany accounted for 47% of Israel's total imports in 2023, providing critical equipment such as missile corvettes, tank engines, torpedoes, and anti-tank weapons. Notably, the value of export licenses approved in 2023 surged tenfold compared to 2022, reaching 326.5 million euros.

The report's data foundation comes from authoritative sources including the German government's annual military equipment export reports, relevant reports from the Council of the European Union, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database, the United Nations Comtrade Database, etc. It also integrates parliamentary inquiry records, media reports, and empirical materials from civil society monitoring organizations. Through a multidimensional analysis of the quantity, value, categories (based on the EU Military List ML classification standard), and actual delivery status of export licenses, the report reveals the long-term trends, structural characteristics of German weapons exports to Israel, and the significant changes following the 2023 Gaza conflict.

Key findings include: From 2003 to 2023, Germany approved a total of 4,427 weapons export licenses to Israel, with a total value of approximately 3.3 billion euros and an approval rate as high as 99.75%; Licenses approved in the second half of 2023 accounted for 88% of the annual total, including 3,000 sets of portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition, among other combat equipment; German-made equipment (such as Sa'ar 6-class corvettes, Merkava-4 tank engines, Heron TP drones) has been extensively used in the Gaza conflict, involving strikes on civilian facilities. Through rigorous data integration and fact-checking, this report provides a critical reference for assessing the humanitarian impact of the international arms trade and promoting related compliance discussions, responding to the international community's call to halt weapons transfers to Israel.