EU governments continue lucrative contracts with Israel despite war crimes

Government institutions across European Union member states have continued signing lucrative contracts with Israeli companies despite Israel’s long history of alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, according to data compiled by Statewatch and published by Al Jazeera.

 The data show that Spain, one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel, agreed to 14 contracts worth nearly €227 million ($257 million) between January 2022 and July 2025, the period covered by the dataset.

 Most of that amount, €207 million ($235 million), came from an April 2024 agreement between Spain’s Ministry of Defence and Israeli defence company Rafael for an air warfare system. Spain’s national police also purchased bulletproof vests from Israeli company Marom Dolphin.

Overall, the data indicate that public institutions in EU member states signed 194 contracts with Israeli companies worth about €2.7 billion ($3.1 billion) during the period reviewed.

The report noted that the actual value is likely to be significantly higher, as publicly available EU procurement records cover only a fraction of all contracts and include some agreements valued at less than one euro.

According to the data, the pace of contracting increased after Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza.

During the first 21 months of the study period, from January 2022 to October 2023, EU public bodies signed 82 contracts worth more than €1.2 billion ($1.36 billion).

In the following 21 months, from October 2023 to July 2025, 112 contracts valued at approximately €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) were signed, accounting for more than half of the total value recorded in the dataset.

The report says the EU’s continued commercial engagement with Israeli companies contrasts with ongoing proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel faces allegations of violating the Genocide Convention over its military operations in Gaza.

In 2024, the ICJ found there was a “real and imminent risk” of irreparable harm to Palestinians and ruled that states should not aid or facilitate Israel’s continued unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Yousef Al Tamimi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Legal Studies at Central European University in Vienna, told Al Jazeera that the European Union’s approach towards Israel is “legally unacceptable.”

According to Al Tamimi, the ICJ has imposed clear obligations on all states to eliminate, mitigate and remedy Israel’s alleged unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory. He said the court’s opinion is binding on all EU member states under customary international law and has implications for the contracts identified in the report.