In the absence of consensus at the European level, Slovenia is moving on its own.
On Thursday, it became the first EU country to ban all arms trade with Israel, including transportation and imports.
In a press release, the Slovenian government explicitly outlined concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and criticised the EU’s inability to adopt such measures due to “internal disagreements.”
The decision is more symbolic than anything, as the Slovenian government has said it has not issued an arms license to Israel since October 2023 due to the conflict.
The decision aims to strengthen pressure on the Israeli state and ends the war in Gaza.
“All measures are on the table. As we have done in the past, we support suspension of membership agreements with Israel, trade sanctions and arms compensation, certain settlers, certain ministers, and sanctions against the Israeli government that supports violence.”
“All measures must be taken as soon as possible until a ceasefire occurs, until violence ceases, until a resolution between the two countries is available,” she added.
Sales decline
Other European countries, such as Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, have not travelled to Slovenia, but have cut arms sales to Israel.
Belgium officially banned arms exports to Israel after the 2008-2009 Gaza War.
In the Netherlands, the Hague Court of Appeals invalidated exports of F-35 spare parts to Israel in February 2024.
The 2013 Arms Trade Treaty prohibits the transfer of weapons used by the country to commit crimes against genocide or humanity.
In 2008, EU countries also promised to refuse to transfer technology and military equipment that could be used to extend armed conflicts.
“In the case of European states, they are obligated to export equipment that can be used to commit crimes in Gaza, as well as to export equipment that can be used to maintain the size of the land, air or naval occupied by Israel on the Palestinian territory.
“So this covers virtually all military equipment that the Israeli army can use.”
Continuous exports
Meanwhile, European exports of military equipment to Israel continue.
In some countries, the parts are either assembled only in Israel or used as training equipment rather than Gaza.
“The work of several Italian human rights associations and Italian investigative reporting revealed that the Italian government had just suspended the granting of new export licenses, but anything that had been approved by October 7, 2023 went to Israel.
The transfer of dual-use technologies that can be used for both civil and military purposes also poses problems.
In Belgium, in the Flanders region, local businesses have allowed exports “screens that ended in control cabins for Israeli drones that were used to bomb humanitarian convoys a few months ago.”
“The discussion proposed at the time by the Flanders government was that by October 7, 2023, this was a general technology and screens that could be seen not only in drone control cabins, but also in other things. So in this case, it was not necessary to supply these screens to supply these screens, as they could not speak of military technology to supply these screens.
The United States is the leading supplier of Israeli weapons. They account for two-thirds of Israel’s arms imports, while Germany and Italy are second and third.
According to Stockholm International Peace Institute, Germany mainly sells frigates and torpedoes.
“What we export is actually everything. It’s the equipment used in naval systems because it’s a part that can be used on Israeli ships. We also supply training parts for aircraft,” Longuet says.
“For example, the UK and Italy are export parts of Italian M-346 aircraft used to train future Israeli fighter pilots,” he explains.
At the European level, the chances of a successful arms embargo are unlikely to be successful. It must be approved unanimously by the EU Council.
But Longet says it’s likely that countries like Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which are solid supporters of Israel, will block it.
