Canada more dependent on Israeli arms than vice versa
Cutting off military aid a hollow gesture
When the Trudeau government publicly cut off military exports to Israel last week, the immediate reaction of the Israeli media was to point out that Canada’s military was far more dependent on Israeli tech than was ever the case in reverse.
“For some reason, (Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly) forgot that in the last decade, the Canadian Defence Ministry purchased Israeli weapon systems worth more than a billion dollars,” read an analysis by the Jerusalem Post, which noted that Israeli military technology is “protecting Canadian pilots, fighters, and naval combatants around the world.”
According to Canada’s own records, meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces were only ever purchasing a fraction of that amount from Canadian military manufacturers.
In 2022 — the last year for which data are publicly available — Canada exported $21,329,783.93 in “military goods” to Israel.
This didn’t even place Israel among the top 10 buyers of Canadian military goods for that year. Saudi Arabia, notably, ranked as 2022’s biggest non-u.s. buyer of Canadian military goods at $1.15 billion — more than 50 times the Israeli figure.
What’s more — despite Joly adopting activist claims that Canada was selling “arms” to Israel — the Canadian exports were almost entirely non-lethal.
“Global Affairs Canada can confirm that Canada has not received any requests, and therefore not issued any permits, for full weapon systems for major conventional arms or light weapons to Israel for over 30 years,” Global Affairs said in a February
statement to the Qatari-owned news outlet Al Jazeera.
The department added, “the permits which have been granted since October 7, 2023, are for the export of non-lethal equipment.”
Even Project Ploughshares — a non-profit that has been among the loudest advocates for Canada to shut off Israeli exports — acknowledged in a December report that recent Canadian exports mostly consisted of parts for the F-35 fighter jet.
“According to industry representatives and Canadian officials, all F-35s produced include Canadian-made parts and components,” wrote the group.
Israeli military contractors, by contrast, have supplied the Canadian Armed Forces with a number of specialized and comprehensive defence systems that are not easily found elsewhere.
Just last month, in fact, Canadian troops stationed in Latvia took delivery of a rush order of the Israeli-made Spike LR2 anti-tank system. Although Canadian military procurement is normally an onerous process taking years, the Spike purchase was fast-tracked after military brass realized that troops were woefully underequipped for anti-tank warfare.
The Jerusalem Post noted that this was not the first time that the Canadian military had leaned on Israel to patch up a sudden equipment deficiency that turned up once Canadian troops were deployed overseas.
In 2008, Canada rented a small fleet of Israeli-made Heron spy drones to protect its troops stationed at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. The Herons were rushed into service after commanders determined that Canada’s existing drone fleet was unable to effectively keep tabs on Taliban fighters planting roadside bombs around the airfield.
The Israeli defence sector is particularly well-known for technology to detect and interdict incoming missiles — a function of the country having been subject to regular Palestinian and Hezbollah rocket attacks for more than two decades.
In 2015, the Department of National Defence announced a $243.3-million deal to purchase 10 mediumrange radar systems that would employ technology from Israel’s famous “Iron Dome” anti-missile shield.
“The radars are capable of detecting hostile indirect fire, locating the position of the enemy weapon, and calculating the point of impact of a projectile, as well as simultaneously tracking multiple airborne threats,” read a statement at the time.
Radar technology licensed from Israel’s ELTA Systems is now standard on Canadian search and rescue aircraft, and will be used to provide missile defence for the under-construction Canadian Surface Combatant fleet.
The Canadian/israeli disparity in military exports is similar to the broader trade relationship between the two nations. Canada takes in more than twice as many Israeli exports as Israel takes from Canada — and the Israeli imports are generally far more complex.
According to a dashboard maintained by the Observatory of Economic Complexity, in 2022 Canada took in US$1.33 billion of Israeli goods, against just US$506 million of Canadian goods going the other direction.
The top three Israeli products purchased that year by Canadians were “special purpose ships,” “medical instruments” and “packaged medicaments.” Canada’s top exports to Israel, by contrast, were “perfume plants” and “electric heaters.”
The trade imbalance was pointed out in a viral social media post by Tel Aviv-based musician Yoni Leviatan.
“As far as I’m concerned, Canada can keep its perfume parts and we’ll be happy to sell our world-class medical instruments to the countries who don’t play domestic politics on the backs of murdered and kidnapped Israelis,” he wrote.
(CANADA) PURCHASED ISRAELI WEAPON SYSTEMS WORTH MORE THAN A BILLION DOLLARS.