17 million-euro deal shows Finland’s arms trade hypocrisy
Helsinki Times
Thursday, 10 September 2009
A multi-million euro military contract between Finland and an Israeli military equipment company is just the latest in a long-running series of arms deals.
ELBIT Systems Limited, an Israeli military electronics company, has been awarded a 17 million euro contract by Finland’s Ministry of Defence to provide Finland with radio and data transmission communication systems. The systems are due to be delivered during 2010-2012. The procurement is an extension of a previous contract made at the beginning of the decade between the Finnish government and the Israeli military communications company Tadiran, the Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) main supplier of communications equipment. In 2008 the company was merged into Elbit Systems.
In a statement from the Finnish Ministry of Defence to Helsinki Times, Senior Government Secretary Jouko Tuloisela commented, “[the] FDF [Finnish Defence Forces] held a major international bidding contest regarding field communications equipment earlier this decade.
At that time, and based on negotiations and evaluations of several alternative candidates, the field communications systems originating from the Israeli Tadiran company was selected, based on that product being evaluated by the FDF as the technically and economically most suitable alternative for FDF use and providing the best value for money solution.”
The deal is sensitive for the Finnish government. Military trade between the two countries has been criticised for many years, and Finland has been accused of breaking EU regulations concerning arms exports. According to Amnesty International, Finland is the second largest provider of missile technology to Israel, and their ninth largest provider of arms and ammunition overall.
The provision of military technology to a country which has committed human rights and international law violations flouts the legally binding EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, which states, amongst other things, that EU member states will “not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.”
Concomitant with the export industry in Finland is a healthy import industry for Israeli defence contractors. A report by the Committee of 100 in Finland this year revealed that, before the latest Elbit deal, the FDF had purchased at least 21 million dollars worth of electronics from ECI Telecom in Israel since 2000. In 2000 and 2001 medium-range missiles costing more than 37 million euros were bought from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel, another massive supplier of equipment to the Israeli army.
Such military deals between Finland and Israel continued unabated during Finland’s premiership of the EU in 2006, despite a statement in that year by Finland's then-UN ambassador on behalf of the EU to the UN Special Committee investigating Israeli human rights violations stating that, amongst other things, “We reiterate our demand that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the separation barrier in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around Jerusalem, which is in departure of the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction to relevant provisions of International Law.”
Further, in December 2006 Finland condemned illegal Israeli settlements, as Sweden, holding the current presidency, did last month. The same year the then-foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said at the 17th World Congress in Helsinki "[The EU should] try to ensure the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians are met and that their access to education and medical services is maintained."
Amongst other things, the establishment of the wall, condemned by the International Court of Justice, makes it practically impossible to meet those needs. When one considers that, at the same time these proclamations were made, Finland was trading with companies directly involved in establishing such constructions and contributing to combat operations in civilian areas, the gap between words and actions widens.
Another reason for the sensitivity of this deal comes directly from the status of Elbit Systems. In Israel, the company is one of the two main suppliers of the electronic detection fence to the seamline and wall project in the occupied West Bank, specifically to the Jerusalem Envelope section. Subsidiaries of the company have supplied surveillance equipment for the same project, as well as providing the IDF with UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) which have been used in combat in the West Bank and Gaza.
There is no doubt that Tadiran’s products have been used by the Israeli Defence Force in this troubled region. The company proudly states it is “working hand-in-hand with the IDF…benefit[ing] from immediate battle-tested results.” As researcher Bruno Jäntti from the University of Tampere has written in an op-ed piece for an online journal, “These military technology giants [Rafael and Elbit], for their part, are at the very core of the illegalities carried out by the Israeli political-military establishment.”
In addition to Elbit’s position as a long-established supplier of military equipment to the FDF, the company has also been extensively involved in servicing and testing projects with the majority state-owned Finnish company Patria for some time. When asked why the Ministry of Defence deemed Elbit to be a suitable supplier of equipment to Finland, Tuloisela replied, “We do not operate an embargo on Elbit or any other Israeli company, but consider procurements on a case by case basis.”
Of course, if procurements really were considered on such a basis, there would be no reason to consider this deal a continuation of an earlier contract, and no reason not to deny the contract to Elbit. The director of Amnesty Finland, Frank Johansson, told Helsinki Times: “This latest deal clearly shows the moral ambivalence of the Finnish government, as does Finland’s attitude to all the arms deals that have taken place in the last decade.”
This country’s intimate relationship with Elbit is in stark contrast to a decision this month by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance to exclude the same company from the Government Pension Fund – Global. This step was taken on the basis of a recommendation from the country’s Council on Ethics, which found that “investment in Elbit constitutes an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of fundamental ethical norms as a result of the company’s integral involvement in Israel’s construction of a separation barrier on occupied territory.”
“We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” the Norwegian Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen said, adding that the Norwegian authorities have acted in support of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Finland, of course, is also a signatory to this article, despite lacking the moral fibre demonstrated by her neighbours. Finland's Defence minister Jyri Häkämies was among the first foreign government representatives to visit Israel shortly after the attack on Gaza in January 2009.
Helsinki Times
Thursday, 10 September 2009
A multi-million euro military contract between Finland and an Israeli military equipment company is just the latest in a long-running series of arms deals.
ELBIT Systems Limited, an Israeli military electronics company, has been awarded a 17 million euro contract by Finland’s Ministry of Defence to provide Finland with radio and data transmission communication systems. The systems are due to be delivered during 2010-2012. The procurement is an extension of a previous contract made at the beginning of the decade between the Finnish government and the Israeli military communications company Tadiran, the Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) main supplier of communications equipment. In 2008 the company was merged into Elbit Systems.
In a statement from the Finnish Ministry of Defence to Helsinki Times, Senior Government Secretary Jouko Tuloisela commented, “[the] FDF [Finnish Defence Forces] held a major international bidding contest regarding field communications equipment earlier this decade.
At that time, and based on negotiations and evaluations of several alternative candidates, the field communications systems originating from the Israeli Tadiran company was selected, based on that product being evaluated by the FDF as the technically and economically most suitable alternative for FDF use and providing the best value for money solution.”
The deal is sensitive for the Finnish government. Military trade between the two countries has been criticised for many years, and Finland has been accused of breaking EU regulations concerning arms exports. According to Amnesty International, Finland is the second largest provider of missile technology to Israel, and their ninth largest provider of arms and ammunition overall.
The provision of military technology to a country which has committed human rights and international law violations flouts the legally binding EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, which states, amongst other things, that EU member states will “not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.”
Concomitant with the export industry in Finland is a healthy import industry for Israeli defence contractors. A report by the Committee of 100 in Finland this year revealed that, before the latest Elbit deal, the FDF had purchased at least 21 million dollars worth of electronics from ECI Telecom in Israel since 2000. In 2000 and 2001 medium-range missiles costing more than 37 million euros were bought from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel, another massive supplier of equipment to the Israeli army.
Such military deals between Finland and Israel continued unabated during Finland’s premiership of the EU in 2006, despite a statement in that year by Finland's then-UN ambassador on behalf of the EU to the UN Special Committee investigating Israeli human rights violations stating that, amongst other things, “We reiterate our demand that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the separation barrier in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around Jerusalem, which is in departure of the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction to relevant provisions of International Law.”
Further, in December 2006 Finland condemned illegal Israeli settlements, as Sweden, holding the current presidency, did last month. The same year the then-foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said at the 17th World Congress in Helsinki "[The EU should] try to ensure the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians are met and that their access to education and medical services is maintained."
Amongst other things, the establishment of the wall, condemned by the International Court of Justice, makes it practically impossible to meet those needs. When one considers that, at the same time these proclamations were made, Finland was trading with companies directly involved in establishing such constructions and contributing to combat operations in civilian areas, the gap between words and actions widens.
Another reason for the sensitivity of this deal comes directly from the status of Elbit Systems. In Israel, the company is one of the two main suppliers of the electronic detection fence to the seamline and wall project in the occupied West Bank, specifically to the Jerusalem Envelope section. Subsidiaries of the company have supplied surveillance equipment for the same project, as well as providing the IDF with UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) which have been used in combat in the West Bank and Gaza.
There is no doubt that Tadiran’s products have been used by the Israeli Defence Force in this troubled region. The company proudly states it is “working hand-in-hand with the IDF…benefit[ing] from immediate battle-tested results.” As researcher Bruno Jäntti from the University of Tampere has written in an op-ed piece for an online journal, “These military technology giants [Rafael and Elbit], for their part, are at the very core of the illegalities carried out by the Israeli political-military establishment.”
In addition to Elbit’s position as a long-established supplier of military equipment to the FDF, the company has also been extensively involved in servicing and testing projects with the majority state-owned Finnish company Patria for some time. When asked why the Ministry of Defence deemed Elbit to be a suitable supplier of equipment to Finland, Tuloisela replied, “We do not operate an embargo on Elbit or any other Israeli company, but consider procurements on a case by case basis.”
Of course, if procurements really were considered on such a basis, there would be no reason to consider this deal a continuation of an earlier contract, and no reason not to deny the contract to Elbit. The director of Amnesty Finland, Frank Johansson, told Helsinki Times: “This latest deal clearly shows the moral ambivalence of the Finnish government, as does Finland’s attitude to all the arms deals that have taken place in the last decade.”
This country’s intimate relationship with Elbit is in stark contrast to a decision this month by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance to exclude the same company from the Government Pension Fund – Global. This step was taken on the basis of a recommendation from the country’s Council on Ethics, which found that “investment in Elbit constitutes an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of fundamental ethical norms as a result of the company’s integral involvement in Israel’s construction of a separation barrier on occupied territory.”
“We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” the Norwegian Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen said, adding that the Norwegian authorities have acted in support of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Finland, of course, is also a signatory to this article, despite lacking the moral fibre demonstrated by her neighbours. Finland's Defence minister Jyri Häkämies was among the first foreign government representatives to visit Israel shortly after the attack on Gaza in January 2009.
