The business of genocide: Israel’s booming war economy

As Israel raises billions through bonds, arms and tech exports, governments and corporations keep profiting, all while avoiding one word: genocide

A few days ago, Israel hit the markets to raise six billion dollars through an international bond issue in three tranches. This is the first time since the ‘ceasefire‘ that Tel Aviv has borrowed to cover its financing needs for 2026.

Amidst a climate of business and labour insecurity, but also propaganda for a “return to growth”, the Netanyahu government is promoting exports of Israeli-made products and services to a dozen countries. Their governments and companies have no moral scruples, avoiding the term “genocide” like the plague.

Billions of dollars in business, exports of Israeli products, or acquisitions of Israeli companies broke all records last year. At the top of the list is Egypt, the great ‘defender’ of Palestinians.

President Al Sisi agreed to purchase $35 billion worth of Israeli natural gas by 2040. It will come from the Leviathan field and will intensify Egypt’s energy dependence on Israel.

Energy, equipment, surveillance systems, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications dominate the “menu.”

“Tested in the killing fields”

Many agreements in the fields of technology and the military industry are accompanied by the chilling tagline that they are “battle-tested.” In other words, they have been used in operations by the IDF in Gaza, in the ongoing genocide, and in the wider region, from the Houthi rebels in Yemen to the “12-day war” with Iran last June.

Alphabet (parent company of Google search engine) has completed its $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz, while Nvidia has committed to investing $1.5 billion to build the largest artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Israel, 30 km from the port of Haifa.

And last but not least, Germany (a country that scandalously armed and continues to arm Israel), is now expanding the market for Israeli anti-missile systems. The Berlin-Tel Aviv agreement concerns the Arrow 3 batteries (the so-called “Israeli Patriot”) and comes up to a total sum of $6.5 billion, including an advanced system for intercepting long-range ballistic missiles. It is the largest export of weapons systems in Israel’s history.

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