A report issued by the Israeli entity’s observer, Netanyahu Engelman, today, Tuesday, showed that over the past two decades, Israel has lost a large part of its ability to produce raw materials and components used in manufacturing weapons and combat means locally. According to the report, this led to “violating freedom of action” and exposing Israeli soldiers to danger during the war of annihilation that Israel launched on the Gaza Strip following the attack on October 7, 2023, and the various escalation fronts that broke out since then. According to the report, The decline in local production capacity came as a result of a long-term policy that preferred to purchase raw materials and means of combat from abroad at a lower cost, which led to the closure of production lines, and Israel’s shift to increasingly relying on supply from abroad. The report indicated that this dependence was directly reflected during the war on Gaza, as Israel faced restrictions and restrictions imposed by some countries on providing it with combat means, raw materials, spare parts, and maintenance services (due to the use of these weapons in serious human rights violations), in addition to the rise in global demand for weapons as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The report stated. The stock of some combat means in the Israeli army was, as of October 6, 2023, less than the target level, while indicating that there was a shortage of specific combat means and raw materials subject to military control, in a way that did not meet the operational needs of the army. The report stated that the former Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, had decided in October 2021 to double the production lines and infrastructure for specific combat means, but the decision did not receive a budget from the security establishment. The report added that the failure to formulate a clear policy and plan Funded before the outbreak of war means in practice “not drawing lessons” from what Israel calls Operation “Guardian of the Walls” in reference to the aggression on Gaza in May 2021, which “harmed the army’s readiness for war.” The State Comptroller also directed criticism at the security-political mini-ministerial council (cabinet), noting that it did not discuss the issue of Israeli independence in arms production. He also blamed the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, for Responsibility for the failure of the National Security Council to raise the issue in cabinet meetings. According to the report, there are still gaps in Israel’s ability to produce raw materials that were previously produced locally, as of January 2025, before its production lines were closed for economic reasons about a decade ago, which the report considered a factor threatening the lives of soldiers on the battlefields. The report also recommended increasing Israel’s independence in producing specific combat means according to the needs of the security establishment, in addition to allocating budgets to purchase stocks of raw materials and equipment that require long supply periods, as well as Components whose production has stopped or is expected to stop soon. The report also addressed the performance of Israeli military industries, including Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael, calling on the Ministry of Defense to organize its work to ensure that the needs of the security establishment are met, despite their operation as commercial companies. Engelman said in the summary of the report that “the loss of production capabilities led to exposing fighters to danger on the battlefield,” calling on Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, to “fix the defect” considering that the issue “affects the security of citizens.” Israel. On the other hand, the Israeli Ministry of Security said that “armed independence” has become at the core of its strategy, noting that it has been working since the outbreak of the war to reduce the accumulated gaps through a broad plan worth billions of shekels to enhance local production. The Ministry added that it has established, in cooperation with military industries, new production structures and expanded manufacturing lines in about 20 areas that it considers “critical,” within a long-term plan called “Israel’s Shield,” worth 350 billion. shekels over the course of a decade. For its part, the occupation army claimed that its combat capabilities “were not damaged,” and that “there was no threat to the lives of the soldiers due to the lack of ammunition or combat means,” indicating that it worked during the war to find solutions to the gaps that appeared in this field.
