Netanyahu Shows Off Europe

Israel's experience in conflict zones has made it a world leader in security technologies, with products then exported to Europe under the banner of "battle tested."

May 27, 2025

PABLO HIRIART

https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/opinion/pablo-hiriart/2025/05/27/netanyahu-exhibe-a-europa/

Madrid – “It is difficult to raise good children in a country that normalizes the murder of children,” wrote Galia Oz, daughter of the great Israeli writer Amos Oz.

This is happening today in Israel, where the majority of the population opposes the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip (53%, and only 34% in favor, according to a survey cited by El Mundo).

Some leaders tend to bring out the worst in many of their constituents. This is the case with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Hamas terrorist attack in Israel gave Netanyahu the pretext he needed to avoid the corruption trial against him in his country.

As long as the war lasts, he won't leave.

Netanyahu orders the murder of children, women, and the elderly in Gaza to save himself.

The moral authority of the only democratic nation in the Middle East is shattered.

A wave of anti-Semitism is emerging as a reaction in much of the West.

It's impossible to avoid repudiation at the impunity of a criminal who is not the leader of a terrorist group hiding in caves in the desert, but who holds the position of prime minister of a country.

 In addition to debasing a large segment of his country's population, Netanyahu has exposed the fragility of Europe's emblematic nations, incapable of going beyond condemnatory tweets and reviewing agreements that don't entail any sanctions.

If Europeans complain that the United States (Trump) has abandoned them in the "defense of liberal principles" for its short-term mercantilist policy, they are doing the same.

Or worse. Trump (like Xi Jinping) at least doesn't have the nerve to talk about democracy or human rights, while European leaders do. They lecture. They lecture in cafes and at conferences. And they sit back and do nothing.

"Dogs bark, but the caravan moves on," says an Arab proverb.

Let's take it one step at a time.

In retaliation for the Hamas terrorist attack, which killed 1,139 people and kidnapped 251 in October 2023, the Israeli army has murdered 53,000 Palestinians, including 17,400 children.

It has left 121,000 people injured, 94% of homes in Gaza are destroyed, 90% of the population is displaced, 94% (especially children and the elderly) suffer from hunger, and 80% of the water infrastructure has been destroyed.

No European country has severed its military or technological relationship with Israel. These days, Europe is losing credibility.

How can they demand that Russia or China respect human rights if they minimize them depending on who massacres civilians and children?

Business overrides principles.

Over the last decade, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands have established bilateral technological cooperation programs with Israel, many of which are funded under the European Horizon Europe program, which supports research in key sectors.

Germany's Fraunhofer Institute collaborates on projects with Israeli companies such as Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

In 2022, France signed agreements with Israeli cyber defense startups to integrate them into its national technology ecosystem.

Spain has channeled European resources into joint consortiums with Israeli firms in border control, drone surveillance, and agricultural technologies, especially in Andalusia.

It has 46 contracts with the Israeli military industry, and canceled a small one, for the purchase and sale of bullets.

The appeal is obvious: Israel is agile, innovative, and efficient. Its experience in conflict zones has made it a world leader in security technologies, with products then exported to Europe under the slogan "battle tested."

Germany sells submarines and naval weapons to Israel, such as the Dolphin models manufactured by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

Italy imports aviation components and radars used by the Israeli Army, including in operations over Gaza.

Elbit Systems, one of the largest Israeli defense companies, operates development centers in the United Kingdom and participates in European border defense projects.

In 2020, Spain authorized the export of electronic components for Israeli missiles.

At the same time, Israel exports armed and surveillance drones to Europe, many of which were developed during operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

It also sells spyware and population monitoring software, such as the widely known NSO Group Pegasus, which European governments have used to monitor dissidents or prevent terrorist threats.

This relationship, in times of peace, may seem pragmatic. Useful, too. But given the current circumstances, it is a scandal.

It is not feasible to sever technological and military relations with Israel overnight, but it is feasible to establish clear limits: partial embargoes, conditions for human rights violations, and review of surveillance contracts and offensive weapons.

European leaders are also within their power to ban imports of products developed in illegal settlements or occupied areas, such as the West Bank. Some Nordic countries already do so partially.

Netanyahu laughs at the rhetoric of European governments and shoots their diplomatic observers in the West Bank (a Palestinian territory, geographically and ideologically distant from Gaza).

What a way to expose Europe's weakness.

He tweets his indignation and loses his place in the world.