Mounting international condemnation of the civilian suffering wrought by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has put a spotlight on countries that are the biggest suppliers of funding and arms to Israel’s armed forces.
In the United States, by far Israel’s biggest military supplier, Democratic lawmakers are putting increasing pressure on President Biden to condition future military aid on Israel doing more to protect Gaza’s civilians. Germany, the second-largest arms supplier to Israel, this week defended itself at the United Nations’ highest court against allegations that its weapons sales made it complicit in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Even governments that account for a far smaller portion of aid or weapons sales to Israel are facing heated domestic debates and legal challenges over those supplies — with parliamentary votes or court orders putting a stop to exports in some countries.
Here is a look at the biggest suppliers to Israel’s military:
United States
The United States has a long history of sending aid to Israel, stretching back to World War II. In recent decades, most of the assistance has been in the form of military aid. In 2016, the Obama administration signed a 10-year agreement to supply Israel with $3.8 billion annually, most of that in foreign military financing grants, which allow Israel to buy American weaponry.
From 2019 to 2023, the United States supplied 69 percent of Israel’s arms imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the global weapons trade. President Biden has also been pushing for $14 billion in additional spending for Israel and for U.S. military operations in the Middle East, though approval for the funding remains stalled in Congress.
While support for Israel once had reliable bipartisan support in Washington, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has prompted a chorus of Democrats in Congress to urge Mr. Biden to leverage American weapons sales to try to change Israel’s decision making in the war.
