EU bodies kept signing contracts with Israeli firms during Gaza war
Statewatch data reported by Al Jazeera show EU public institutions made nearly €2.7bn in contracts with Israeli companies from 2022 to 2025.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Public institutions across the European Union continued to award contracts to Israeli companies after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, according to Statewatch data reported by Al Jazeera. The findings matter because Israel is facing proceedings at the International Court of Justice over the Genocide Convention while EU governments debate whether to restrict ties.
The data set covers January 2022 through July 2025 and lists 194 contracts worth nearly 2.7 billion euros, or about $3.1bn, with Israeli companies, according to Statewatch. Al Jazeera reported that the true figure may be higher because some EU tender files omit values or list amounts that appear implausibly low.
Statewatch recorded 82 contracts worth more than 1.2 billion euros in the 21 months before October 2023, according to Al Jazeera. In the following 21 months, after Israel began its war in Gaza, the data show 112 contracts worth 1.6 billion euros.
Military, technology and medical contracts
Al Jazeera reported that many of the contracts involved advanced technology, precision engineering and specialised manufacturing, including weapons systems and computer chips. Israeli military companies Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Troya Tech Defence Ltd ranked among the top 10 contractors in the Statewatch data.
Spain, despite being one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel, signed 14 contracts worth nearly 227 million euros between January 2022 and July 2025, according to the data. Al Jazeera reported that most of that value came from an April 2024 Spanish Defence Ministry contract with Rafael for aerial combat systems worth 207 million euros.
Hungary signed the most contracts in the data set, with 42 deals valued at almost 603 million euros, according to Statewatch. Germany had 37 contracts involving military equipment, cybersecurity software, laboratory tools and medical equipment, though Al Jazeera reported that several German contract values were not disclosed or appeared inaccurate.
A spokesperson for Germany’s economic affairs and energy ministry told Al Jazeera that Israeli companies may compete for German public tenders under EU procurement rules. The spokesperson said German arms export licences are assessed individually, taking account of foreign policy, security policy and international humanitarian law.
The data also included contracts involving universities, police forces and public utilities. Al Jazeera reported that the Polytechnic University of Madrid signed two August 2024 contracts worth nearly 300,000 euros with Heqapl for quantum computing equipment, while Belgium’s University Hospital Leuven signed a 1.2 million-euro April 2024 contract with GNX Data Systems for genome sequencing software.
Yussef Al Tamimi, an assistant professor at Central European University in Vienna, told Al Jazeera that the EU’s approach to Israel was legally untenable. He said the ICJ had laid out duties for states to address Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
Pressure over EU-Israel trade ties
The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, and trade in goods between the two sides reached 42.6 billion euros in 2024, according to EU data cited by Al Jazeera. A partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement could affect about 5.8 billion euros in Israeli exports, Al Jazeera reported.
The agreement, signed in 1995 and in force since 2000, gives Israel access to EU cooperation programmes, including Horizon Europe. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli researchers, institutions and companies received an estimated 1.11 billion euros in Horizon Europe grants between 2021 and 2024, plus at least 40 million euros through Erasmus+ from 2015 to 2020.
The European External Action Service found significant evidence last year that Israel was breaching the agreement’s human rights clause, according to Al Jazeera. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Israeli actions such as blocking food and medical aid went beyond self-defence, while Germany and Italy opposed suspending the pact.
Amnesty International’s Eve Geddie told Al Jazeera that suspending the agreement is a legal obligation when a founding clause is not respected. Al Jazeera reported that the Spanish defence ministry, Spanish police forces, Sweden’s defence ministry and Germany’s defence ministry had not responded to requests for comment by publication time.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.