As we approach 200 days of mass slaughter in Gaza, people around the world have not stopped taking action to protest their governments’ complicity in Israel’s violence. In the US, regular marches continue, along with targeted disruptions of political events and fundraisers. Next week Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s most notoriously evil companies, will be coming to Chicago to network and market their vast array of weapons as “battle-tested” after months of deployment against unarmed Palestinian civilians. Chicago residents have made it clear that we stand with Palestine and against the Israeli genocide; we cannot allow Elbit to deal its death in peace.
Elbit’s War Crime Business Model
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms manufacturer and weapons developer, with sites in the UK and US for manufacturing, subsidiaries, investors, and partners. Elbit specializes in military technology – manufacturing 85 percent of Israel’s drone arsenal and land-based equipment, as well as short and long-range missiles, armored vehicle defense systems, bombs, and surveillance towers used from Gaza to the US-Mexico border. The Israeli military has been using Elbit’s weapons to commit war crimes for years, maximizing death by targeting Palestinian homes, schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure.
As war returns to the geopolitical stage, defense budgets skyrocket, and authoritarian leaders consolidate control, Elbit sees profitable opportunities. When NATO bombs destroy whole societies, forcing refugees to flee and seek asylum in Europe or elsewhere, this “creates a good business environment for solutions that we have in defense electronics, border control and upgrades for systems,” according to Elbit’s Chief Financial Officer. Surveillance and military intel-gathering “solutions” provided by Elbit cross over seamlessly into commercial or civilian use.
Reports show that Israel is testing new weapons in its current genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Insidiously, Elbit markets its military products as “combat-proven” because the Israeli military has consistently uses them on captive Palestinian populations in Gaza and the West Bank. The “battle testing” of Elbit’s equipment includes, for example, Israeli snipers’ target practice on the unarmed Palestinian marchers in the Great March of Return of 2018, where IDF soldiers shot to maim civilians. Multiple reports show that Israel is testing new weapons in its current genocidal campaign in Gaza. The grotesque marketing campaign is central to Elbit’s bottom-line and extensive sales around the globe.
Elbit benefits tremendously from the fact that Israel has never ratified the Arms Trade Treaty that forbids the sale of weapons if there is a risk of them being used for genocide or crimes against humanity. The arms manufacturer supplies weapons and technologies of death to NATO countries, India, the Philippines, and beyond in service of securing borders and suppressing populations. In September of 2023, Elbit was just awarded another US border security contract. Eighty percent of Elbit’s sales are exports, including to US Border Security, and arms exports from Israel remain high even during the ongoing brutal assaults on Gaza. In 2019, Elbit’s CFO characterized the company’s “diverse portfolio” of clients as a strength compared to US arms manufacturers or those of countries more tied to a single buyer (usually the US Department of Defense).
Elbit in Chicago
Next week from April 9 to 11, McCormick Place in downtown Chicago will host the MRO Americas Aviation Week, where Elbit Systems will be an exhibitor and make deals with various airlines and aviation supply companies. According to Elbit America’s exhibitor’s page, the Israeli company will be appealing to sell its parts and weapons systems to “government, military and commercial agencies.”
Elbit will have plenty to sell at the event, as the company manufactures crucial components for aircraft weapons systems, including F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, and Apache and Cobra attack helicopters. The Israeli Air Force uses fighter jets and helicopters equipped with Elbit mission computers, display systems, and other technologies developed specifically for the IDF. These fighter jets have been used in Israel’s major assaults on the Gaza Strip, bombing residential buildings and media organizations like Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. As the American Friends Service Committee reported in a profile of Elbit, “during Israel’s 2008–2009 assault on Gaza, the military used Elbit-outfitted F-16s to target civilians, civilian homes, and refugee camps.”
Chicagoans must refuse to allow our great city to be complicit in genocide.
In late January, Chicago’s city council officially called for a ceasefire by Israel, joining the ever-growing chorus condemning Israel’s bloody assault. Now, as one of Israel’s top weapons manufacturers and war-crime enablers comes to Chicago to sell its wares, Chicagoans must refuse to allow our great city to be complicit in genocide.
Chicago organizers are calling on McCormick Place to disallow Elbit from its premises next week and into the future and calling on Brandon Johnson to make it clear that Elbit Systems is not welcome in Chicago.