The Growth of the Israeli Defense Industry and its Impact on Palestine

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The Israeli defense industry grew significantly through an unofficial alliance with the US, selling weapons to dictatorships around the world. The industry shifted from public to private, with Elbert becoming the most famous company, producing drones and various weapons. After the occupation of Palestine in 1967, it became the ultimate testing ground for weapons. Israeli army officials and generals used their experience in the West Bank and Gaza to develop and promote weapons, using Palestine as an example of how to control and oppress Palestinians.

Paris Marx is joined by Antony Loewenstein to discuss how the Israeli weapons industry tests new military technologies on occupied Palestinians before selling them internationally.

Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist who’s written for the New York Times and the Guardian. He’s the author of The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports The Technology Of Occupation Around The World. Follow Antony on Twitter at @antloewenstein.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Excerpts from Antony’s book have been published by In These Times, Declassified Australia, and Jamal Khashoggi-founded Democracy for the Arab World Now. Antony also wrote a good overview of the book for Middle East Eye.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Yesh Din have called Israel’s actions apartheid.
Google and Amazon workers protested Project Nimbus. They also faced shareholder revolts over the project.
Airbnb lists properties in illegal Israeli settlements.
Red Wolf is deployed at checkpoints to scan Palestinians’ faces and add them to surveillance databases without their consent.
Facebook has been criticized for removing Palestinians’ posts.
The New York Times reported on Israel’s use of NSO Group surveillance tools for diplomatic leverage.
The Committee to Protect Journalists found Israel killed 20 journalists.