LONDON Ñ A movement is growing in Europe to punish Israel's defense industries for the continuing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Norway has insisted that it won't buy any U.S. fighter-jets
with Israeli subsystems. A British company has even been denied a license to sell sporting ammunition to Israel's national marksmanship team on the grounds that the .22 caliber bullets might be used for military purposes.
Norway's parliament made its demand amid plans by Oslo to
participate in the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter project. Norway is in the last
stages of negotiations to become a partner in the JSF project, which would
involve an investment of about $100 million. Officials said a decision is
expected to be announced later this year, Middle East Newsline reported.
The dispute comes as more European countries are moving to block the sale or
purchase of Israeli defense systems during the conflict with the Palestinians.
Industry sources said the insistence is strongest by Belgium, Britain,
Germany and the Scandinavian countries.
Norwegian parliamentarians have insisted that none of the F-35s
being produced by Lockheed Martin contain Israeli subsystems. Several
deputies said Israel's Elbit Systems has been contracted to supply
electronic and avionics equipment for the JSF and F-16.
Norwegian officials have denied the assertion. The Defense Ministry said
Elbit is not a contractor in either the F-16 or F-35. Another Scandinavian
country, Denmark, has already signed a contract to invest $125 million in
the JSF.
A British company, Eley, has been denied a license to sell sporting
ammunition to Israel's national marksmanship team. The Birmingham-based
company complained to British officials that the sale of 350,000 rounds of
.22 caliber ammunition has no military use.
"There is a clear risk that the ammunition might be used for internal
repression, external aggression, prolonging the conflict and the risk that
the goods might be diverted to an undesirable end user," a letter from the
British Trade and Industry Department to Eley said.
