Over 40 human rights activists filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court, demanding that Israel cease exporting arms to Ukraine in 2018.
According to Haaretz, the group argues that these weapons serve forces that openly express a neo-Nazi ideology and submitted evidence that the Azov battalion, whose troops are part of Ukraine’s military and are backed by the country’s ministry of internal affairs, are the ones using these weapons.
The Defense Ministry has yet to respond to the petition.
The ministry’s reasons for granting export licenses for weapons are not disclosed to the public. However, the appearance of Israeli arms in the hands of dedicated neo-Nazis should be considered when opposing grants for such a license.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time the defense ministry has armed forces embracing a national socialist ideology.
Israel at one point armed anti-Semitic regimes, including the generals’ regime in Argentina. That regime murdered thousands of Jews in camps while its soldiers looked in watchtowers keeping an eye on the abducted prisoners with Uzi submachine guns.
A freedom of information petition to Israel’s defense ministry from 2017 showed that the Jewish State also provided armaments to Bolivia’s military regimes, knowing full well that Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was a member of the regime. Barbie’s death squads also used Israeli Uzis.
Israel365 News has reported on the notorious Azov Battalion – a neo-nazi militia that has been incorporated into Ukraine’s national guard. They are on the front lines in the civil war against Russian loyalists in the country’s eastern regions. Bearing the reputation of a cruel force, the Azov battalion is considered the most effective fighters against pro-Russian separatists.
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