Netanyahu says Israel must produce its own weapons
As Israel faces increased isolation since the start of its war on Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country should be less reliant on western military funding, Turkish media outlet Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
It was cited by the Israeli premier’s office on March 31 that he commented, “we need to be much more independent in the production capacity of the weapons we need” during a meeting with Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron on March 28.
The revelations of the remarks made by Netanyahu came shortly after the Biden administration approved the sale of new warplanes and thousands of unguided bombs worth $2.5 billion to Israel despite the fact that the state has killed 33,000 Gazans since October and has been repeatedly accused by the international community of committing war crimes in the war-torn enclave as well as other Palestinian territories.
US officials, including President Biden himself, have also castigated plans of a ground invasion of the densely populated city of Rafah as well as calling for an immediate ceasefire.
During the meeting on March 28, Netanyahu was also presented a copy of the bank’s 2023 Annual Report. Commenting on the findings, the Prime Minister noted, “The main data, first of all, have very encouraging signs of a relatively fast recovery in both wages and employment, regarding credit cards, it even surpasses where we expected to be before the war.”
Acknowledging the undisputed international pressure against Israel over recent months, Netanyahu stressed that the country needed “to be immune from external pressures because we need to make our own decisions.”
On March 19, Canadian lawmakers voted in favour of a motion calling for a halt in arms sales to Israel whilst a significant number of MPs across the parliament also highlighted the importance of establishing a Palestinian state.
READ: UN rights expert calls for Israel arms embargo
Supporters of the motion highlighted that the move was a clear message that Canada, a historic ally of the Middle Eastern state, was abandoning Israel as well as putting meaningful pressure on it for its brutal and unprecedented actions in Gaza.
Critics of the bill however, argued that being supportive of ending arms sales to Israel was “misguided” and “disingenuous”.
Candian lobby group, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) commented, “It will not effectively address the humanitarian crisis. It will not liberate Gazans from the tyrannical rule of the Iranian proxy, Hamas. It will not promote peace.”
“It is shameful that the Liberal government has drawn moral equivalence between Israel, a declared democratic ally, and Hamas, a Canadian government-listed terrorist entity.”
A week later, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese called for all countries to implement an Israel arms embargo as well as accusing it of genocidal acts, presenting a lengthy report to the world body’s Human Rights Council titled, “The Anatomy of Genocide”.
On March 27, British MP Zarah Sultana wrote a letter to Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch making the case for such an embargo.
The letter was signed by 135 lawmakers and members of the House of Lords from all parties represented in Westminster.
AA