“Elbit Out!” Activists launch campaign to expel arms company from Romania
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Palestine solidarity groups in Romania and beyond are launching a campaign to end ties with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.
A coalition of Romanian and international groups standing in solidarity with Palestine has launched the “Elbit Out!” campaign, aiming to expel Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems from Romania. Elbit is one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers and is present in Romania with three companies, the organizers explain. “There, it manufactures components for weapons that have been tested on Palestinians and are partly still used in Gaza today.”
According to statements of Israeli officials, Elbit facilities in Brașov and Bacău, along with a production site in Măgurele outside Bucharest, made Romania the company’s third-largest manufacturing hub in 2021 – behind only Israel and the United States. The arms producer’s presence has been a constant for years, with early 2010s reports already highlighting its peculiar position in Romania.
“The continuation of these cooperative relations between Romania and the Israeli state violates Romania’s international legal obligations and the fundamental principles of human rights,” campaigners warn. “Through the arms trade, Romania is an active partner in genocide, in maintaining the apartheid regime, and in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Watch: Victory at Oldham: How Palestine Action shut down arms manufacturer Elbit
While the campaign is demanding Romanian authorities end ties with Elbit, it also stresses that complicity in Israel’s war crimes extends further. One issue is the scale of military exports from Romania to Israel. Activists point out that in the past two years alone, these have amounted to dozens of millions of euros. Such transfers have been another steady feature of the bilateral relationship. In 2012, Israel was Romania’s third-largest arms client. “While other export destinations decreased in volume, as all European arms export decreased due to the economic crisis, Israel continued to be a good customer of the Romanian arms industry,” Wendela de Vries from the Dutch campaign Stop Arms Trade noted in LeftEast in 2014. “It continued buying components for air-to-air missiles, military ground vehicles, and testing equipment for military planes.”
At the same time, Romania has consistently purchased Israeli military technology, much of it tested on Palestinians living under occupation. This cooperation has included technology exchange for drones and air defense systems, involving not only Elbit but also Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Most recently, over €2 billion was awarded to Rafael in a contract for an air defense system to be deployed in Romania. The deal will draw funding from Romania’s strained public budget, but is also likely to benefit from the European Union’s recent armament programs, according to early reports.
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As a result of this background, the campaign will also focus on halting all military imports and exports between Romania and Israel, as well as terminating bilateral military agreements. After a public inauguration on October 5, with the participation of representatives from BDS Campaign Europe and Law for Palestine, it will include field work with trade unions, legal petitions, and engaged advocacy. It is expected to culminate with a conference focusing on solidarity with Palestine and internationalism, organized as a counterpoint to the Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition in Bucharest in mid-May 2026.
The initiative is coordinated by Palestine Solidarity Cluj-Napoca in cooperation with Solidaritate România-Palestina, Moldova pentru Palestina, Absorbante pentru Toate, Blocul Tineretului Muncitoresc, Căși Sociale ACUM!, Colectiva Urzica, Fundraisers for Falastin RO, Grupul de Acțiune Socialistă, Partidul SENS, and Platforma L.E.F.T. It has also secured endorsements from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, Stop ReArm Europe, and the International People’s Assembly (IPA), showing that the push to end European complicity in Israel’s crimes is growing stronger by the day.
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
