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Israeli Battle Management
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Information on Elbit Management Systems
Elbit Systems of Israel, whose subsidiaries provide security sytems for illegal West Bank settlements, and the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall, is also the provider of the Israeli drones that are becoming a staple of many NATO armouries including the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Elbit Systems supplied drones during combat in Gaza and also supplies UGV’s (unmanned ground vehicles) for patrolling the ‘seamline’ in the West Bank along with Controp Precision Technologies and Tomcar. The major shareholders of Elbit are members of the Federman family, (since 2004) through the Federman Group which is composed of David Federman, his brother and his father Michael Federman. They appear to be involved in many other companies, including Carmel Olefins, Elite Industries, etc.
The military integration of Israel and its arms industry into western ‘defences’ provides crucial support for the militarists in the Israeli government, and undermines completely any intended diplomatic efforts in other areas.
A core plank of Elbit Systems social responsibility charter is ‘adopt a regiment’, also support for Zionism 2000.
Drones in Gaza and the Significance for Purchasers of Israeli Drones
Many countries around the world have purchased or leased Israeli drones, including the UK, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Turkey. Many of these have been the Hermes 450 or variants, the same drone used extensively and more or less secretly in Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and in the recent attacks on Gaza.
The UK has an 850 million pound contract with UTacS to provide the UK with modified Hermes 450 drones under the Watchkeeper programme.
Israeli has the leading position in the development of drones, with two companies IAI and Elbit Systems as world leaders.
When countries purchase Israeli drones, what is happening?
For one thing, they are purchasing state of the art technology which has been field tested in ‘combat’ in the occupied territories of Palestine. Israel has a long history of drone use in Palestine, though this was relatively secret until recently. Drones by their nature are difficult to detect, and without IDF confirmation of their use this was difficult to establish.
But beginning about five years ago, reports of drones used in targetted assassinations became more common. Drones were first used to provide surveillance, but subsequently the technology was developed to arm the drones with missiles and other weapons, as well as non lethal capability like the ability to jam cell phones.They were also able to ‘mark’ targets, so that targets could be attacked by other weapons like missiles or bombs launched from military jets.
Early reports talked about the high accuracy of these weapons. Certainly Palestinian militants became fearful of them.
But in Operation Cast Lead reports came in of many, many civilian deaths caused by drones, in circumstances where it ‘should’ have been able to distinguish between fighters and civilians. What was happening? Are drones less precise than believed in the fog of war? Were drones being used to murder people? We can’t know at the moment because Israel refuses to examine the events, or to provide the tapes of the drone attacks to be publicly reviewed.
When a country buys or purchases Israeli drones they are accepting the baggage that goes with them. A brand name cosmetic company can’t survive if it uses ‘animal testing’. Yet western democracies purchase drones from Israeli companies knowing that these drones are either hopelessly and dangerously inaccurate, or have been associated by the senseless slaughter of civilians.
Australia Arming Israel, While Israel Arms Australia
15 March, 2010, it was announced that Australia would be purchasing $298USD millions of arms technology from Israeli company Elbit Systems. These purchases were for BMS, or Battle Management Systems, complex electronics that permit integration of modern warfare technology.
Elbit claims that it provides similar technology to 20 countries world wide.
Not only is Elbit arming many countries, profits from these exports provide funds for research and development of new weapons, and grease the wheels under Israel’s military industrial complex.
Countries that have divested from Elbit Systems Ltd.
On 3 September 2009, Europe’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund withdrew its investments in Elbit Systems citing the Israeli company’s involvement in the barrier being constructed in the West Bank on Palestinian Territories.
On 31 March 2010, Sweden’s largest pension funds elected to remove Elbit Systems from its investment portfolios
On 30 May 2010, Deutsche Bank sold its holdings in Elbit Systems.