Netanyahu vows to expand domestic arms industry as dozens of nations restrict weapons sales to Israel

With at least two dozen countries restricting arms sales to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he will expand the country’s domestic arms industry.

“We will have to invest more in our national security,” Netanyahu told media outlets, while also declaring that Israel will become an AI power just as it has become a cyber power.

The prime minister also said the government will pass a bill to draft 10,000 Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) into the military within two years in the upcoming Knesset session.

“There are many more of enlistment age who aren’t Haredim, and they also have to enlist,” Netanyahu said.

Israel and U.S. relations have reportedly never been as close as they currently are, which includes personal ties between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump. Netanyahu said he will speak with U.S. Vice President JD Vance tomorrow about two things: “the security challenges facing us, and the diplomatic opportunities facing us.”

Last month, during the Finance Ministry's Accountant General conference, Netanyahu noted the level of influence that the arms embargo has on Israel’s security industry.

“This changes Israel’s international situation, both in terms of our ability to import weapons components and ammunition, and it threatens us with the seeds of economic sanctions. This is a fact, and it is very difficult to influence,” Netanyahu said.

“We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics (without foreign trade). That is the word I hate the most,” he said. “I am a supporter of the free market, but we could find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked.”

Netanyahu continued: “We will need to develop arms industries here – not just research and development, but also the ability to produce what we need. We are Athens and Sparta; we are going to be Athens and Super-Sparta,” Netanyahu said at the conference in Jerusalem.

Since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, following the Hamas massacre in Israel, at least 24 countries have imposed restrictions on arms sales to Israel, most of them within the past year. By the time the ceasefire took effect, six nations had fully banned weapons transfers to the country.

Spain was the most recent country to do so, after its parliament approved Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s arms embargo decree in September, banning the sale of weapons, military equipment, and technology to Israel.

The weapons restrictions are likely to have little impact on Israel’s arsenal since 99% of the major weapons transferred to Israel are supplied by the United States, Germany and Italy, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the global arms trade.

Germany and Italy had previously imposed certain restrictions but are now advocating for those measures to be lifted following the ceasefire, according to Politico.