{"id":2485,"date":"2023-10-26T16:05:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T06:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2023-10-26T16:05:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T06:05:27","slug":"australia-approved-322-defence-exports-to-israel-in-six-years-as-greens-fear-equipment-used-in-gaza-assault-25-oct-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/?p=2485","title":{"rendered":"Australia approved 322 defence exports to Israel in six years as Greens fear equipment used in Gaza assault – 25 Oct.23"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australia has approved 322 defence exports to\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0over the past six years, according to new figures that will fuel questions at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The government-compiled figures, which include 49 permits for Israel-bound exports last year and 23 in the first three months of this year, may cover both military-specific goods and also dual-use devices.<\/p>\n

The Greens\u2019 defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said Australia had \u201cone of the most secretive and unaccountable weapons export systems in the world\u201d, given that it doesn\u2019t break down the exact items exported.<\/p>\n

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Shoebridge, who will ask the defence department about the exports at a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, said he held \u201ca very deep concern that Australian material is being used in the attack on Gaza\u201d.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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However, the figures do not go into that level of detail. In response to questions on notice from Shoebridge, the government disclosed that 322 permits for Israel-bound military or dual-use exports had been issued since 1 January 2017.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The number of permits for Israel peaked at 62 in 2021, before dropping to 49 in 2022, followed by a further 23 in January to March this year.<\/p>\n

Israel was one of 14 countries for which Shoebridge sought defence export figures. The Philippines was the second-largest destination among the countries that were part of the question, with 158 permits in the same period.<\/p>\n

Other destinations included Mali (70 permits) and Burkina Faso (56 permits).<\/p>\n

Previous disclosures indicated<\/a>\u00a0that Australia approved 21 permits for the export of military or dual-use equipment to Saudi Arabia between 1 January and 9 November 2022, an increase on previous levels to that country.<\/p>\n

In the response detailing the figures, the government said permits were \u201crequired for a broad range of goods and technologies such as software, radios or chemicals that have legitimate civilian and commercial applications\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery export permit decision must assess any relevant human rights risks and Australia\u2019s compliance with its international obligations,\u201d the government response said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Defence identified an export might be used to facilitate human rights abuses, a permit would be refused.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government said each export application was assessed against criteria that include foreign policy, human rights, national security, regional security and Australia\u2019s international obligations such as the arms trade treaty.<\/p>\n

But the Greens argue Australia should join other countries in publishing \u201cwho we are selling weapons to, what those weapons are and how much they cost\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Australia changed governments last year there was hope it would reverse the Coalition\u2019s push to make Australia a top 10 global arms dealer,\u201d Shoebridge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, the Albanese government has doubled down on arms sales to some of the world\u2019s most troubling regimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week a\u00a0veteran US state department official quit his role<\/a>\u00a0in protest against arms sales to Israel, saying he had made many \u201cmoral compromises\u201d during his 11 years at the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.<\/p>\n

Josh Paul said in\u00a0a letter<\/a>\u00a0posted on LinkedIn that he had promised to stay in that role \u201cfor as long as I felt the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued \u2013 indeed, expanded and expedited \u2013 provision of lethal arms to Israel, I have reached the end of that bargain,\u201d Paul wrote.<\/p>\n

The US\u00a0said this week\u00a0<\/a>it was sending military advisers and air defence systems to Israel ahead of an anticipated ground assault into Gaza by Israel\u2019s military.<\/p>\n

The Australian government has joined the US in affirming Israel\u2019s right to self-defence after the 7 October Hamas attack, but has also called for the protection of civilian lives and humanitarian access to Gaza.<\/p>\n

The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, is due to speak about the war in an address in Canberra on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia has approved 322 defence exports to\u00a0Israel\u00a0over the past six years, according to new figures that will fuel questions at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. The government-compiled figures, which include 49 permits for Israel-bound exports last year and 23 in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[31,24],"tags":[781,131,775,110,74],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":1306,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ttSq-E5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2486,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}