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A blow to one of the largest defense industries in Israel, which could turn into a snowball of severing ties due to the verdict of the judges of the International Court in The Hague.
The Japanese trading company Itocho announced that it will sever its relationship with Elbit Systems because of the ruling in The Hague already at the end of the month.
Elbit, a manufacturer of UAVs, precision weaponry and intelligence and electronic warfare systems, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japanese company to enter the country's huge defense market.
Just five years ago, an agreement was signed in Tokyo between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Japanese Ministry of Defense to regulate the security ties between the two countries, and defense exports among them. The agreement was then signed following the talks Prime Minister Netanyahu had with the then Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.
"I welcome the important agreement we signed this morning with the Ministry of Defense of Japan.
The agreement will deepen and strengthen the security relations between the countries.
We have brought Israel-Japan relations to an all-time high," Netanyahu said at the time.
Elbit UAV. The worsening threats from China and North Korea led Japan to significantly increase its military expenditures/Elbit
Similar to Israel, Japan has a relatively large domestic defense industry to ensure its independence in the field.
Although its military is generally based on American weapons systems, the Japanese manufacture most of them in their country, in local versions.
Although the Japanese face threats similar to those facing Israel, China and North Korea, they have for years avoided security ties with it and defense purchases from the country.
The worsening of the threats from China and North Korea led Japan to significantly increase its military expenditures, which included, among other things, the construction of the first aircraft carrier since World War II, the purchase of F-35 aircraft, and more.
Against this background, it would appear that Japan is changing its policy towards Israel, and the security agreement is intended to produce large deals for the future.
Now Operation Iron Swords, which is considered to be the reason for the boom in orders from the defense industries from Israel, thanks to the demand from the IDF and the success of the systems they developed in fighting in Gaza, is becoming a chilling factor.
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Itocho's chief financial officer, Tsuyoshi Hachimura, said that the company plans to end the cooperation after the World Court last month ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians, he said.
"The partnership is based on a request from The Japanese Ministry of Defense for the purpose of importing equipment for the self-defense forces necessary for Japan's security, and is in no way related to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine," he added. "Given the order of the International Court of Justice on January 26, and that the Japanese government supports the role of the court, we have already suspended New activities related to the memorandum of understanding, and we plan to finalize the memorandum of understanding by the end of February," he concluded.
No response was provided from Elbit.
More on the same topic:
Japan
The Hague
War of Iron Swords
Gaza war
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