The report, released today, cited by the Europa Presse agency, is titled "'Business as usual': Analysis of the Spanish arms trade in 2022-2023 and the arguments for an arms embargo on Israel".
The Center d'Estudis per la Pau J.M. Delàs (J.M. Delàs Peace Studies Center) was created in 1999 following the Campaign against the Arms Trade that began in 1988.
Currently, the organization is an independent research center on issues related to disarmament and peace, based in the province of Girona, in the Spanish region of Catalonia.
The investigation released today - through the organization's official portal - focuses on the arms trade between Spain and Israel and aims to show that, allegedly, "despite the extreme gravity of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip", military relations between Madrid and Tel Aviv remain “essentially as they were before October 7th of last year”.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, causing the deaths of 1,200 people, provoking a large-scale military response from Israel that has left more than 38,000 dead to date, according to health authorities controlled by the Palestinian Islamist group.
The experts who prepared the document state that, contrary to what happens with exports, there is no official annual report on imports from the Spanish Secretary of State for Commerce.
The study reports that "a large part of the defense material, with Israeli patent, is manufactured in Spain through subsidiaries of Israeli companies and other companies that produce (weapons), through a technology transfer agreement".
"Spain continues to award contracts to Israeli military companies and their corresponding subsidiaries in Spain - or to other Spanish companies that manufacture Israeli products - through the technology agreement", highlights the report.
According to the same investigation, "military relations" were only affected with regard to Spanish exports, despite the Madrid Government having assured several times that no new export licenses for defense material had been granted to Israel since October last year.
"Even so, exports continued to occur", states the report.
Experts from the Center Delàs d'Estudis per la Pau mention that in November last year, the company Nammo Palencia exported 987 thousand euros of ammunition to Israel.
On the other hand, the document says, Spain also exported defense material corresponding to weapons, ammunition and tanks and components for armored vehicles to Israel, despite the corresponding database stating that the material was going to be re-exported to the Philippines.
Relations between Spain and Israel are not limited to imports and exports of defense material, but also develop within the scope of awarding products and services to Israeli companies for the Armed Forces or security bodies in Spanish territory.
According to the same source, there is also business collaboration between Spanish and Israeli companies in accessing markets in third countries; collaboration between universities, companies and institutions in research and training projects.
These projects are developed within the framework of the European Union, "at the institutional level between the two countries" or in other States in addition to bilateral collaboration in matters of Information and Security.
The report also analyzes the legality of these operations and the possibility of imposing an arms embargo on the State of Israel and proposes measures with a view to legislative changes in Spain on the control of arms trade.
For researchers, this report highlights the authorization of arms exports to Israel, stating that it is an "activity that goes against the legislation on the matter".
Thus, the report highlights article 6.3 of the Arms Trade Treaty to indicate that Madrid should reject new authorizations and revoke, "or suspend", export authorizations to Israel granted before October 7, 2023 and which are still in place. in force.
"It is very likely that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip," the report says, adding that the Convention on the Prevention and Sanctions against the Crime of Genocide imposes on States the obligation to prevent genocide."
“Furthermore, Israel is undoubtedly committing crimes against humanity and war crimes,” accuse the investigators.
"In view of this particularly serious situation, the Government (of Madrid) could adopt an arms embargo on Israel", they recommend.
Even so, the report mentions that "although" Law 53/2007 does not provide for the possibility of the Spanish State imposing an arms embargo, "this could be done through a (new) legislative measure"
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