In separate moves all in support for Palestinians, Japan, Switzerland, Russia and Spain took policies against Israel in one single day this Monday.
Japan
This monad morning, Japan corporation Itochu’s aviation unit announced in a statement that it intends to end strategic cooperation with Israeli defense company Elbit Systems Ltd by the end of this month.
The move, as Itochu Chief Financial Officer Tsuyoshi Hachimura explained in the statemen, was taken in support for Palestinians in Gaza. “The decision comes after international criticism and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide and allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.
Switzerland
Following the same policy as Jap an did, Switzerland-based transportation company Kuehne + Nagel (KN), also issued a statement, declaring that it would cut cooperation ties with the same Israeli company and not work with them again in the future. In support for Palestinians who are under Israeli fire in Gaza.
The above decisions taken by Japan and Switzerland come after the Palestine Action campaign demanded all those who work with Elbit to end their cooperation with this Israeli company.
“All companies associated with Israeli weapons makers Elbit Systems must follow suit and end their links with Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people,” a spokesperson for the Palestinian rights group said this Saturday. “Palestinian campaigns will continue until all those who facilitate the production of Elbit’s weaponry, which is ‘battle-tested’ on the Palestinian people end their ties with it in solidarity with Palestine, we will not stop until Elbit ceases to exist,” the spokesperson also noted.
Elbit Systems, headquartered in Haifa, operates multiple factories across the world, where it makes ammunition, aircraft equipment and drone aircraft for sale to the Israeli military and other countries as well.
Elbit drones, such as the 7.5 Skylark and the Hermes 900, have been used to monitor and target Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank several times since October 7. Israeli army footage of the war even highlighted the use of an Elbit Systems manufactured mortar bomb named the Iron Sting, one of the deadliest used in Gaza.
Russia
But the nightmare for Israel’s foreign relations doesn’t end here. On the same Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it will summon Israel’s ambassador in Moscow, Simona Halperin, over what Russia described as Halperin’s “unacceptable comments” she made in an interview early this week.
In an interview with Russian outlet Kommersant published on Sunday, Halperin accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of “downplaying” the Holocaust.
It was last month on January that the Russian Foreign Minister said the Russian people “were also subject to Nazi genocide, but Russia doesn’t have carte blanche in the global arena,” suggesting Israel exploits the Holocaust to attack Palestinians in Gaza with impunity.
During her interview, Halperin also rebuked ‘close relations’ between Russia and Hamas. Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, Russia has pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza, and condemned Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians.
Spain
Last but not least, Spain also took an anti-Israeli decision this Monday by announcing that it will send the equivalent of $3.8 million in additional aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
This is while only two weeks ago, a number of western nations, including Australia, France, the US, and others, decided to halt funding to the relief agency following an Israeli report accusing 12 UNRWA staff members of participating in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
