Mexico purchased a total of $54.18 million (998,537,400 Mexican pesos) in weapons from Israel, a nation that in recent years has become the country’s second-largest arms seller, behind only the United States, according to data from the Ministry of Economy.
The main commercial origins of arms in 2024 were the United States (US$38.7M), Israel (US$20.3M), the Czech Republic (US$7.31M), Italy (US$6.15M), and Spain (US$6.11M). Arms sales to Mexico have been increasing in recent years, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s government besieges the civilian population of Gaza.
Meanwhile, in 2023, purchases from Israel totaled $19 million, representing 22.6% of all the weapons Mexico acquired that year.
Just a year earlier, Israel was the fifth-largest arms seller behind the United States, Italy, Austria, and China.
Between 2020 and 2021, purchases from Israel did not stop, despite the halt in commercial activities due to the coronavirus pandemic. On the contrary, they increased by a total of 92.11% compared to the same period immediately prior, from 2018 to 2019.
Mexico City and the State of Mexico were the two states that accumulated 100% of records of arms purchases from Israel during 2024.
Of this percentage, 55.4% were registered in the Miguel Hidalgo municipality, while the municipality of Naucalpan de Juárez in the State of Mexico had the remainder.
The main military camps of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) are located in both municipalities, an agency that has purchased weapons from Israel Weapon Industries (IWI).
In early September of this year, the Oaxaca government announced that it had purchased Israeli weapons, specifically Israel Weapon Industries Arad assault rifles from IWI, a company belonging to the group of arms dealer Samy Katsav.
This announcement sparked criticism as it occurred while Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
In 2020, an international report by Global Exchange, the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, the Center for Ecumenical Studies, Vredesactie (Action for Peace), Agir, and other non-governmental organizations showed how arms companies based in Europe and Israel exported more than 238,000 weapons to Mexico for use by state and municipal police, during a period in which state-sponsored violence and homicides increased dramatically. The report, titled “Deadly Trade: How European and Israeli Arms Exports Are Accelerating Violence in Mexico,” shows that these weapons have been used in criminal activities, human rights violations, and collusion with organized crime.
Furthermore, more than 95% of the weapons transferred to the Mexican police are classified as being for the exclusive use of the Army and Air Force, but in practice, they are used for law enforcement activities.
Source: aristeguinoticias
