The American Friends Service Committee, through its Action Center on Corporate Accountability, has produced a list of companies of the military-industrial complex which are profiting off Israel’s war in Gaza and what they have supplied to the Israeli military since Oct. 7. “Shortly after Oct. 7, the U.S. government initiated an aerial convoy to deliver munitions and weapon systems to Israel. Some of these weapons were purchased using U.S. taxpayers’ money through the Foreign Military Sales program; some were direct commercial sales purchased through Israel’s own budget; and some were replenishing U.S. military stockpiles in Israel, which the Israeli military may also use. A list of known U.S. arms transfers is maintained by the Forum on the Arms Trade,” AFSC writes in the introduction to the list. “Israel would not be able to sustain these attacks without this continued flow of weapons from the U.S. AFSC supports a full suspension of all arms transfers to both Israeli and Palestinian militant groups. However, while the Israeli military is heavily supplied by the U.S., no Western government or corporation knowingly arms Palestinian militant groups.”
A few of the significant items on the list include the following:
• BAE Systems manufactures the M109 self propelled 155mm howitzer which the Israeli military has been using extensively, firing tens of thousands of 155mm shells into the Gaza Strip, including, according to some human rights groups, white phosphorus shells.
• Boeing is the manufacturer of the Apache attack helicopter and the F-15 fighter jet, both of which Israeli forces have been using heavily in Gaza. Boeing also manufactures the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb—a 250 lb, GPS guided air dropped munition—and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)—a GPS guidance kit that is used to turn unguided dumb bombs into precision guided weapons. “Immediately after Oct. 7, Boeing expedited delivery of 1,000 smart bombs, and another 1,800 JDAM kits, to Israel. Both deliveries were part of a 2021 order that Israel made during its previous large-scale attack on Gaza,” AFSC reports.
