"For some reason, [Foreign Minister Melanie Joly] forgot that in the last decade, the Canadian Defence Ministry purchased Israeli weapon systems worth more than a billion dollars."

"[Israeli military technology is] protecting Canadian pilots, fighters, and naval combatants around the world."

Jerusalem Post analysis

"Global Affairs Canada can confirm that Canada has not received any requests, and therefore not issued any permits, for full weapon systems for major conventional arms or light weapons to Israel for over 30 years."

"The permits which have been granted since October 7, 2023, are for the export of non-lethal equipment."

Global Affairs Canada

A member of the Swiss army walks past an Israeli-made Spike LR2 Long-Range Missile on March 21, 2024. A version of the Spike LR2 was recently fast-tracked by Canada for its troops in Latvia. Photo by STEFAN WERMUTH / AFP

Israeli media was quick to point out that Canada's military was far more dependent on Israeli tech than was ever the case in reverse, in their reaction to the surprise news out of Canada that the government of Justin Trudeau made a public statement that it planned to cut off military exports to Israel, a week earlier. Canada's own records on trade reveal that the Israel Defense Forces never purchased more than a fraction of the $1 billion in military equipment that Canada had ordered from Israeli sources.

Canada, as it happened -- according to its own records -- exported "military goods" to Israel valued at $21,329,783.93 in the last year that data is publicly available for. Among the top ten buyers of Canadian military goods in that year, Saudi Arabia ranked as the largest buyer at $1.15 billion, over fifty times the Israeli figure. A sale that was controversial among activists in Canada, but which failed to stop the order.

Moreover, the Canadian exports to Israel were almost all non-lethal, despite Canada's Foreign Minister Joly's statement that Canada had been selling "arms" to Israel. Project Ploughshares, a non-profit among the most strenuous advocates for Canada to refuse orders of military goods to Israel, reported in December that recent Canadian exports consisted for the most part of F-35 fighter jet parts. "According to industry representatives and Canadian officials, all F-35s produced include Canadian-made parts and components", they reported.

On the other hand, Israeli military contractors supplied the Canadian Armed Forces with specialized and comprehensive defence systems, not readily accessed from any other source. Canadian troops stationed in Latvia took delivery last month of a rush order of the Israeli-produced Spike LR2 anti-tank system. The Spike purchase was fast-tracked after military officials found troops to be under-equipped for anti-tank warfare. 

 

MMR Radar, made by IAI subsidiary ELTA. (credit: ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES)

 

This was not the only, much less first occasion the Canadian military had urgently depended on Israel to make good a sudden equipment deficiency that was identified  while Canadian troops were deployed overseas. Canada rented a small fleet of Israeli-made Heron spy drones in 2008, to protect Canadian troops stationed at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. When commanders discovered that Canada's existing drone fleet was incapable of effectively keeping tabs on Taliban fighters planting roadside bombs around the airfield, the Herons were rushed into service.

"The radars are capable of detecting hostile indirect fire, locating the position of the enemy weapon, and calculating the point of impact of  projectile, as well as simultaneously tracking multiple airborne threats", an explanatory statement of the event in question read.

On Canadian search and rescue aircraft, radar technology licensed from Israel's ELTA Systems is standard, used to provide missile defence for the Canadian Surface Combatant fleet, under construction. The disparity in military exports between Canada and Israel is wide. Israeli exports to Canada are over twice what Israel takes from Canada, not to mention the fact that the Israeli imports are more complex.

A dashboard maintained by the Observatory of Economic Complexity reveals that Canada took in $1.33 billion of Israeli goods, as opposed to a vastly lesser $506 million of Canadian goods in the reverse direction. 

Israeli-made Drones (photo credit: IAI)

"[In 2022 the top three Israeli products purchased by Canada were[special purpose ships, medical instruments [and] packaged medicaments."

"[In contrast, top exports to Israel by Canada were] perfume plants [and] electric heaters."

Observatory of Economic Complexity

"As far as I'm concerned, Canada can keep its perfume parts and we'll be happy to sell our world-class medical instruments to the countries who don't play domestic politics on the backs of murdered and kidnapped Israelis."

Yoni Leviatan, Tel Aviv