Against the backdrop of Spanish protests over Israel’s actions in Gaza, Spain has canceled an arms deal with Elbit Systems under which it was to acquire PULS precision artillery systems. The deal, agreed upon about two years ago, was valued at roughly 700 million euros. Two Spanish companies were also involved, with Elbit’s share accounting for about 20%, or approximately 140 million euros or 547 million shekels.
Elbit’s PULS system is designed to launch different types of rockets with varying ranges from the same launcher. Systems of this kind have in recent years been sold to the armies of the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and other European countries, with the aim of improving their offensive capabilities in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
About three months ago, Spain announced the suspension of a deal worth roughly 1 billion shekels for the procurement of Spike anti-tank missiles from Rafael, an Israeli defense company. Despite official Spanish statements regarding that deal, Rafael later clarified that no official notice of cancellation had been received. Neither Rafael nor Elbit Systems provided any comment on the current developments.
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that, in addition to the arms embargo on Israel, ships assisting its war effort would no longer be allowed to dock at Spanish ports. Since declaring the embargo, Sánchez has escalated his rhetoric against Israel, accusing it of committing “genocide” in Gaza. He added: “Spain does not have nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers, or large oil reserves, and on its own it cannot stop the Israeli attack.”