(Ottawa) Now that it has supported a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Canada must show consistency and freeze its exports of military equipment to the Jewish state, argues an organization which published a study on Thursday on the risks of these sales.
“We welcome Canada’s vote this week, but it must be accompanied by concrete actions – stemming the flow of weapons systems to Israel,” said researcher Kelsey Gallagher of Project Plowshares.
Because the “conduct” of the Israeli armed forces since the start of Operation “Iron Swords”, which was launched in response to the attacks perpetrated by Hamas, violates international law, affirms the author of the document in an interview.
Canada, as a state party to the Arms Trade Treaty, should not deliver military equipment to another state if there is a “serious risk” that it will be used to commit violations human rights.
The adoption last Tuesday of a non-binding resolution by the United Nations General Assembly calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” did not seem to move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the end of a meeting with the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, he declared on X that the Israeli forces were “more determined than ever to continue fighting” until “total victory “.
Unclear on exports
An important clarification before going any further: we do not know whether the Canadian government has exported military equipment to Israel since the start of the offensive on October 7. Global Affairs Canada publishes its data once a year, and data for 2023 is not available.
By Thursday evening, the Ministry had not responded to questions from The Press on this subject.
The New Democratic Party called for an end to arms sales to Israel more than a month ago, especially since officials are “not able to confirm” whether Canadian equipment was used by the Hebrew State.
“Canadians deserve to know the degree of Canada’s complicity in this conflict,” wrote the 1er November the entire New Democratic caucus in a letter sent to Justin Trudeau.
The position is similar at Amnesty International: they are calling for “a total and immediate embargo from Canada on the export of weapons to Israel” until there is no longer a risk that the weapons will be used to commit crimes. human rights violations.
The Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, is not in the same boat. “We are not asking Canada to stop its arms exports to Israel since we of course recognize Israel’s right to defend itself,” he expressed.
The Canadian government “must, however, obtain a guarantee that these weapons are not used against civilians,” he insisted in a statement sent to The Press. The Conservative Party did not respond to our questions.
An American loophole?
In his study entitled Fanning the Flames: The serious risk of Canada’s arms exports to Israel (“Faning the Flames – The Serious Risk Canada’s Arms Exports Pose to Israel”), researcher Kelsey Gallagher notes that shipments have increased significantly since 2015, reaching 21 million in 2022.
It is unclear what type of material exactly it is, but the main deliveries fall into three categories: bombs, missiles and others, aircraft components and, finally, electronic equipment and “spacecraft”, according to the report.
GRAPHIC PROVIDED BY PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES
Annual value of military equipment exports from Canada to Israel
And this may be just the tip of the iceberg, since “certain components manufactured in Canada and transferred to the United States, including components integrated into the F-35, are ultimately delivered to Israeli forces,” it reads. -we too.
As “the vast majority of Canadian military exports to the United States are neither regulated nor declared, the exact volume and value of these exports remain unknown,” writes the researcher for the peace organization.
“And that’s really disturbing, when we see the aerial bombardments of the Israeli army [il y en aurait eu plus de 22 000, selon Tsahal] in Gaza,” worries Kelsey Gallagher on the other end of the phone.
If it wants to be clear, the Canadian government can launch a review of export licenses for military equipment. He did this in the case of light armored vehicles sold to Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Officials, however, were unable to determine with certainty whether the Ontario-built vehicles had been used by the Saudi regime to repress the Shiite minority in the east of the country or in Yemen.