Israeli weapons 'killing its own soldiers'

Occupied Jerusalem: Investigators from the Israeli army were surprised when they arrived at the battlefield on the Lebanese-Israeli borders in 2006, said a TV documentary that was broadcast recently, quoting Israeli army sources.

The investigators' report, which was included in two military reports, including the Winograde report, noted that it was clear to them that one of the military equipment that Hezbollah used to bomb the Israeli soldiers, killing four of them, was made in Israel and had Hebrew written on it.

When the date of this piece of machinery was checked, it turned out that Israel provided Iran with the equipment during the days of the Shah in 1981.

Arming the world

The file concerning the weapon industry came under scrutiny once again and Israel's role in arming the world without any restrictions or conditions gained prominence.

Israeli Channel 10 recently broadcast an elaborate report on the arms industry in Israel and that Israel is ranked fourth in the world in terms of the weapons export industry.

The story of the weapons industry in Israel began with the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. The first transaction was set forth after the tripartite aggression on Egypt in which Israel participated along with France and Britain.

During that time, western Germany held its first trade of weapons and purchased Israeli rifle known as 'Ozi'. The trade caused the resignation of David Ben Gurion from the prime ministership because the deal was carried out with Germany, Ben Gurion wrote in his book Memoirs.

"The weapons industry is in need of a military operation or a small war to try out the weapons because the countries that want to purchase the weapons constantly ask whether the weapons were tested or whether they'll be used by the Israeli military," Amnoun Birzlay, a journalist on military affairs, told Gulf News.

Israeli weapons industry strengthened during 1973 October War. It caused the Ministry of Defence to establish an industrial unit in the military which is tasked with finding markets to sell weapons.

"The goal was to find a cash liquidity," President Shimon Peres, one of the most important people of the Israeli military industry, said during the Channel 10 documentary.

However, a recession hit the industry that lost 90 per cent of its markets following a peace agreement with Egypt and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

When Amos Yaron was assigned to be the director general of the Defence Ministry, the picture was reversed.

"Israel actually began selling weapons and technology to Islamic states in Asia and Africa exposing its relationships with the United States to real danger," journalist Yusi Malman from Ha'aretz newspaper told Gulf News.

"Thirty per cent of the weapons and the military machinery are designed for the Israeli military and the rest are for export."

The leader of the leftist Meretz-Yachad party and a former politician, Yossi Sarid, told Gulf News the policy caused Israel to be involved in an indecent weapons transaction just like the one that happened in Congo where millions of women and children were killed with Israeli weapons.

"When I was a minister, I paid a visit to Congo and to the miserable refugee camps and noticed huge weapons storehouses that included Israeli weapons [with Hebrew written on them]. I felt ashamed, I felt as if we're partners in the crimes against humanity in Congo," Sarid said.

Drill: Preparing the Public

After a week-long civil defence drill, both the official and public Israeli front are ready to face the worse case possibilities in the future.

Ehud Barak, Israeli Defence Minister, addressed journalists while taking part in a drill at northern Israel's Meir Hospital in Afula. The drill entailed procedures to be taken should a chemical warhead fall in the area.