But while the newly approved arms transfer has renewed global scrutiny of Washington’s unwavering support for Israel, in Canada, the announcement on Tuesday drew attention for a different reason.
That’s because more than $60m worth of munitions will be manufactured by a weapons company in Canada as part of that sale.
Canadian lawyers, rights advocates and other experts say this raises serious questions about the opaque nature of the country’s arms export regime.
They also say Canada’s participation in the arms deal makes clear that the country is failing to ensure that Canadian-made weapons are not used in suspected human rights violations abroad, as required by law.
“The news is appalling,” said Kelsey Gallagher, a researcher at the Canadian peace research group Project Ploughshares.
Given Israel’s appalling track record of violating international humanitarian law through its operation in Gaza, including in some cases which may constitute war crimes, in no way is it appropriate for Canada to supply this ammunition,” Gallagher says .“Moreover, as per Canada’s obligations under the UN Arms Trade Treaty, it’s illegal.”
How is it that Canadian-made munitions will be making their way to Israel? A special US-Canada trade relationship is at the heart of the issue, experts say.
Since the 1950s, the North American neighbours have enjoyed “mutually beneficial terms and conditions” on the trade of military weapons and related components via a bilateral deal called the Defence Production Sharing Agreement.
The US — Canada’s largest overall trading partner — today represents the largest market for Canadian-made defence goods, accounting for about 49.1 percent of all such exports.
Canadian human rights advocates have denounced this lack of transparency for years, dubbing it a dangerous “loophole” to the Canadian arms export system.
Gallagher, the researcher, said Canadians would likely have never known that the weapons were bound for Israel if the US government hadn’t revealed the information itself. “Because these [weapons] are being sent through the US to Israel, these will almost certainly face no regulatory oversight by Canadian officials,” he said.
“And in addition to that, they will not be included in Canada’s official reporting of its arms exports to Israel,” Gallagher continued. “These will be off the record, except from this reporting from the DSCA.”
The announcement also came as Canada — along with other Western countries that provide military support for Israel, most notably the US — is facing growing calls to impose an arms embargo on Israel amid the Gaza war.
After Canada’s Parliament passed a non-binding motion in March urging a suspension of arms transfers to Israel, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the government would not authorise any new permits for weapons exports to the country.
But rights advocates quickly questioned why existing permits weren’t also being revoked, and some asked how the government’s pledge would affect transfers of weapons to the US that do not require permits, yet could end up in Israel.
Source: Al Jazeera