Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy could not have been any clearer. “We are not exporting military equipment to Israel,” Conroy told the ABC in an interview in February.Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been similarly blunt, saying in November: “Australia has not supplied weapons to Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israeli conflict.”
“War crimes are being committed in the invasion of Gaza, so Labor must stop military exports to Israel,” Greens leader Adam Bandt said last year.So who is telling the truth? Are Australian weapons – or military components – being used by Israel in its war in Gaza?The vast majority of Israel’s overseas weapons supplies come from two nations: the United States and Germany.
“I’m not going to go into the details of the permits themselves, but those permits would involve things like radios, body armour, software, vehicle parts. Sporting equipment too,” Jeffrey said. Equipment used at shooting ranges, for example, may be included among the permits granted. According to the Victorian government, Moorabbin-based company Marand holds a critical assembly role for more than 700 highly technical parts for the jet and is the original equipment manufacturer for the F-35 engine trailer.
The F-35 fighter has components made in Australia, but it is not exported from Australia to Israel in its totality. For countries such as Israel, permits are approved case by case and decided against 12 legislative criteria – including Australia’s legal obligations relating to human rights.