21 june 2020
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In three-year period, Israel's defense establishment used more than 1,000 animals for tests that included the effects of explosions and weapon blasts on their bodies; former army officials, animal rights groups call for end to practice
Israel’s defense establishment, including the IDF, has in recent years conducted experiments on hundreds of animals, including dogs, goats and sheep. In the past three years, the military and other security agencies operating under the Defense Ministry have been conducting experiments on nearly 1,000 different animals for the purpose of medical training and weapons development. |
A large number of the animals were either killed or harmed at the conclusion of these experiments, which are being carried out under the auspices of a high level of security classification that deters transparency on this controversial matter.
The data from the Defense Ministry obtained by the Let the Animals Live organization through the Freedom of Information Act refers only to the experiments conducted between 2017 and 2018.
The Defense Ministry said that data on experiments that carried out in the past year and a half has "yet to be transferred to the Health Ministry.”
The list of experiments for those two years alone includes experiments on 40 dogs, 25 goats, 10 sheep, 154 pigs, 25 guinea pigs, 160 fat sand rats (rodents of medium size), 10 mice and 186 rats.
According to information supplied by the Health Ministry, the levels of animal suffering in these trials ranges from level 2 (mild and temporary discomfort) to level 4 (potential for causing pain, suffering or moderate discomfort, persistent disruption in the general condition or normal activity of an animal).
Nonetheless, none of the ministry levels, not even the highest, includes killing animals during an experiment, as happens in IDF procedures on live pigs. This omission casts doubt on the reliability of the Defense Ministry data.
The IDF and the Ministry of Defense refuse to disclose the purpose of the experiments, saying only that some are performed during training by IDF doctors and paramedics for the purpose of saving human lives.
"All experiments are supervised and carried out with the approval of the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects at the Defense Ministry," the army and ministry said.
Despite the decline in the number of animals used in experiments - but not in the number of species - animal rights organizations, along with some within the IDF itself - have criticized the fact that despite significant technological developments in recent years, alternatives are not yet used.
These alternatives include advanced sensors, sophisticated mannequins, simulators and monitoring devices that allow officials to examine the effects of explosives and weapons blasts.
According to information obtained by Ynet, some animals have been used to simulate multi-casualty maritime incidents.
Pigs are most widely used for medical experiments during military training, due to the similarity in heart structure and respiratory tract to that of human.
The new information is backed up by a report published two years ago by Ynet, which revealed that the IDF Medical Corps kills pigs as part of its training course.
When asked whether it exports animals abroad for military experimentation, the Defense Ministry said that due to security restrictions, “it is not possible to say if the defense establishment imported or exported animals for the purpose of experimentation.”
Israel's various defense branches have previously conducted experiments on the impact of a shock wave or a powerful explosive on an animal’s body.
"To claim that using these animals is intended only for life-saving training in the IDF is a smoke screen and lie," a former IDF officer who underwent medical training told Ynet.
“In medical training around the world, including the most prestigious universities, smart dolls have long been used,” says the former officer.
“There are other animal experiments that are cruel and are therefore hidden from public scrutiny."
The Let the Animals Live organization called for full transparency in order to protect the animals that have been forced into experimentation.
"It's time to reveal what's going on in the animal testing industry," the group said.
"The lack of transparency guarantees that the animals used in the defense establishment are suffering greatly. The released levels of suffering indicate a violent and unnecessary death for hundreds of animals who never sought to participate in such experiments.”
The group also says there are widely available, effective alternatives to animal testing.
“It is time for the defense establishment to set an example and adopt research methods that do not involve unnecessary suffering for innocent animals," the group said.
The IDF said in response: "The IDF makes little use of animals in medical research and targeted training. The use of animals is under the supervision of a qualified veterinarian and in compliance with all procedures prescribed by law, including a proper certification process guided by the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects at the Defense Ministry.”
Military officials added: "The use of animals is intended to give IDF medical staff surgical training for life-saving procedures only, as is customary in the medical world."
The Defense Ministry said: "The Defense Ministry's Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects operates in accordance with the Animal Welfare (Animal Protection) Law of 1994.
"The council reviews requests for animal experiments in the defense establishment in accordance with the law, which states that animal experiments are permitted for the purpose of advancing health, treatment and prevention of suffering, advancing scientific research, testing or production of materials or objects, education and teaching.
"The animal experimentation approved by the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects sometimes includes an animal's death, during or after trials, when death is intended to minimize an animal’s pain and suffering - and everything is carried out in accordance with the law."
The data from the Defense Ministry obtained by the Let the Animals Live organization through the Freedom of Information Act refers only to the experiments conducted between 2017 and 2018.
The Defense Ministry said that data on experiments that carried out in the past year and a half has "yet to be transferred to the Health Ministry.”
The list of experiments for those two years alone includes experiments on 40 dogs, 25 goats, 10 sheep, 154 pigs, 25 guinea pigs, 160 fat sand rats (rodents of medium size), 10 mice and 186 rats.
According to information supplied by the Health Ministry, the levels of animal suffering in these trials ranges from level 2 (mild and temporary discomfort) to level 4 (potential for causing pain, suffering or moderate discomfort, persistent disruption in the general condition or normal activity of an animal).
Nonetheless, none of the ministry levels, not even the highest, includes killing animals during an experiment, as happens in IDF procedures on live pigs. This omission casts doubt on the reliability of the Defense Ministry data.
The IDF and the Ministry of Defense refuse to disclose the purpose of the experiments, saying only that some are performed during training by IDF doctors and paramedics for the purpose of saving human lives.
"All experiments are supervised and carried out with the approval of the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects at the Defense Ministry," the army and ministry said.
Despite the decline in the number of animals used in experiments - but not in the number of species - animal rights organizations, along with some within the IDF itself - have criticized the fact that despite significant technological developments in recent years, alternatives are not yet used.
These alternatives include advanced sensors, sophisticated mannequins, simulators and monitoring devices that allow officials to examine the effects of explosives and weapons blasts.
According to information obtained by Ynet, some animals have been used to simulate multi-casualty maritime incidents.
Pigs are most widely used for medical experiments during military training, due to the similarity in heart structure and respiratory tract to that of human.
The new information is backed up by a report published two years ago by Ynet, which revealed that the IDF Medical Corps kills pigs as part of its training course.
When asked whether it exports animals abroad for military experimentation, the Defense Ministry said that due to security restrictions, “it is not possible to say if the defense establishment imported or exported animals for the purpose of experimentation.”
Israel's various defense branches have previously conducted experiments on the impact of a shock wave or a powerful explosive on an animal’s body.
"To claim that using these animals is intended only for life-saving training in the IDF is a smoke screen and lie," a former IDF officer who underwent medical training told Ynet.
“In medical training around the world, including the most prestigious universities, smart dolls have long been used,” says the former officer.
“There are other animal experiments that are cruel and are therefore hidden from public scrutiny."
The Let the Animals Live organization called for full transparency in order to protect the animals that have been forced into experimentation.
"It's time to reveal what's going on in the animal testing industry," the group said.
"The lack of transparency guarantees that the animals used in the defense establishment are suffering greatly. The released levels of suffering indicate a violent and unnecessary death for hundreds of animals who never sought to participate in such experiments.”
The group also says there are widely available, effective alternatives to animal testing.
“It is time for the defense establishment to set an example and adopt research methods that do not involve unnecessary suffering for innocent animals," the group said.
The IDF said in response: "The IDF makes little use of animals in medical research and targeted training. The use of animals is under the supervision of a qualified veterinarian and in compliance with all procedures prescribed by law, including a proper certification process guided by the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects at the Defense Ministry.”
Military officials added: "The use of animals is intended to give IDF medical staff surgical training for life-saving procedures only, as is customary in the medical world."
The Defense Ministry said: "The Defense Ministry's Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects operates in accordance with the Animal Welfare (Animal Protection) Law of 1994.
"The council reviews requests for animal experiments in the defense establishment in accordance with the law, which states that animal experiments are permitted for the purpose of advancing health, treatment and prevention of suffering, advancing scientific research, testing or production of materials or objects, education and teaching.
"The animal experimentation approved by the Council for Experiments on Animal Subjects sometimes includes an animal's death, during or after trials, when death is intended to minimize an animal’s pain and suffering - and everything is carried out in accordance with the law."
5 may 2020
The European Union’s contracts of €59 million with Israeli military companies to supply war drones for the surveillance of asylum seekers at sea is immoral, of questionable legality and encourages human rights abuses in occupied Palestine, today said the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med).
The €59 million of the recent EU drone contracts reportedly went to two Israeli military companies: Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI. Elbit’s Hermes 900 was experimented on the population of the besieged Gaza Strip in the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, Operation Protective Edge.
This shows EU investment in Israeli equipment whose value was demonstrated by its use in the course of oppressing the Palestinian people and occupying their territory, said Euro-Med in a statement. These drone purchases will be seen correctly as supporting and incentivizing such experimental use of military technology by the Israel’s repressive regime, it added.
"It is outrageous for the EU to buy drones from Israel drone manufacturers considering the repressive and unlawful ways that drones have been used to oppress Palestinians living under occupation for more than fifty years,” said Richard Falk, Euro-Med Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, “It is also unacceptable and inhumane for the EU to use drones, however obtained, to violate the basic rights of migrants risking their lives at sea to seek asylum in Europe."
The EU should discourage human rights violations against Palestinians by refraining from purchasing Israeli military equipment used in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Euro-Med.
The €59 million of the recent EU drone contracts reportedly went to two Israeli military companies: Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI. Elbit’s Hermes 900 was experimented on the population of the besieged Gaza Strip in the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, Operation Protective Edge.
This shows EU investment in Israeli equipment whose value was demonstrated by its use in the course of oppressing the Palestinian people and occupying their territory, said Euro-Med in a statement. These drone purchases will be seen correctly as supporting and incentivizing such experimental use of military technology by the Israel’s repressive regime, it added.
"It is outrageous for the EU to buy drones from Israel drone manufacturers considering the repressive and unlawful ways that drones have been used to oppress Palestinians living under occupation for more than fifty years,” said Richard Falk, Euro-Med Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, “It is also unacceptable and inhumane for the EU to use drones, however obtained, to violate the basic rights of migrants risking their lives at sea to seek asylum in Europe."
The EU should discourage human rights violations against Palestinians by refraining from purchasing Israeli military equipment used in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Euro-Med.
28 apr 2020
Breaking Defense magazine reports that Israel may ask to get its yearly aid ahead of time, and possibly twice as much as usual… But 26 million Americans out of jobs and U.S. companies closing due to coronavirus might object… A petition proposes: ‘Israel has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.’
By Alison Weir – If Americans Knew
Breaking Defense, a digital magazine that covers military issues, reports that Israel may ask for its U.S. aid early, possibly in a lump sum that could be as high as $7.6 billion.
This would work out to almost $21 million per day from American taxpayers, even though the U.S. is approaching a $4 trillion deficit (the largest in the world), and Israel typically has a lower unemployment rate than the United States.
The report is by Breaking Defense Israel correspondent Arie Egozi, an Israeli citizen who served in the Israeli military and is close to the Israeli security establishment.
Egozi’s article states that because of the coronavirus pandemic, “Israel’s Ministry of Defense and high command have hammered out an emergency plan for an appeal to Washington.”
The article, which carries a Tel Aviv dateline, reports: “Sources here say the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Israel to ask Washington to make major changes to the [aid] agreement, including a request to receive the annual allocation $3.8 billion earlier than planned.”
U.S. aid to Israel is normally disbursed in October, in a lump sum that is deposited to an interest-bearing Israeli account in the New York Federal Reserve Bank. (Since the U.S. has been operating at a deficit, this means that the U.S. government borrows the money and pays interest on it long after it has gone out.)
Potentially $14,000 per minute from American taxpayersIn addition to receiving the aid earlier than usual, a “senior source” quoted by Egozi suggests that Israel may request that the aid expected for 2024 also be disbursed this year.
If that happens, it would work out to nearly $21 million per day, or $14,460 per minute to Israel from American taxpayers suffering from a devastating hit to the U.S. economy.
Moreover, it is highly likely that when 2024 comes around, the advance would be forgiven, as have numerous U.S. “loans” to Israel, and Israel would get the aid again.
The current aid to Israel is based on a 2016 agreement by the Obama Administration to give Israel $3.8 billion annually for the next 10 years – a total of $38 billion, touted as the largest such aid package in U.S. history. Overall, Israel has received more U.S. aid than any other country, on average, 7,000 times more per capita than others.
While the Obama Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a non-binding agreement, Israel has received this sum every year since it was signed. Israel advocates in Congress are currently seeking to cement it into a law that would permit this amount to go even higher in the future.
A ‘wild idea’ that might not appeal to AmericansEgozi reports that the former president of Israel Aerospace Industries, Joseph Weiss, said asking for the money ahead of time is “a wild idea,” but said it “makes sense in the special conditions created [in Israel] by the pandemic.”
However, it’s unlikely that this would make equivalent sense to Americans, who have been at least as hard hit by the pandemic.
Over 26 million Americans so far have lost their jobs, and many U.S. companies are facing bankruptcy. A comment below Egozi’s article suggests how Americans would respond to a massive outlay to Israel this year:
“Why do Americans put up with all this money going to Israel when millions of them have no healthcare, no job, and are eating from food banks?”
To deflect such outrage, Israel partisans in the U.S. typically defend the aid by saying that it eventually goes to U.S. defense companies. However, they fail to mention that millions of the dollars go to Israeli companies that compete with American businesses, often leading to job losses in the U.S. No other country receiving U.S. military aid is allowed to do this.
In addition, many Americans feel that Israel should use its own money to purchase its weaponry, as the U.S. does. They point out that if Americans wished to subsidize weapons companies, the U.S. government could simply purchase items for American use.
Similarly, a growing number of Americans object to the uses Israel makes of U.S. weapons, regularly deploying them in violation of both international law and U.S. law (also this).
However, the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. is extremely influential in both political parties, and U.S. media rarely report on aid to Israel, so the lump sum could slip through without notice.
An administration official recently said that Israel would not need to worry about money “even if there is a depression.”
Petition by Council for the National InterestA critic of the aid, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, points out that Israel is not an ally, and that it has often “done damage to the United States.” Giraldi, who is currently executive director of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), notes that Israel often spies on the U.S. and has stolen American technology. It also tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship, killing 34 Americans and injuring over 170.
Giraldi is asking people to sign a petition by CNI: “Stop the $3.8 Billion to Israel.”
The petition states: “…We need to take care of Americans and not send our tax money to a wealthy foreign country. Israel has already received billions of dollars from American taxpayers. It has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.”
Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel.
By Alison Weir – If Americans Knew
Breaking Defense, a digital magazine that covers military issues, reports that Israel may ask for its U.S. aid early, possibly in a lump sum that could be as high as $7.6 billion.
This would work out to almost $21 million per day from American taxpayers, even though the U.S. is approaching a $4 trillion deficit (the largest in the world), and Israel typically has a lower unemployment rate than the United States.
The report is by Breaking Defense Israel correspondent Arie Egozi, an Israeli citizen who served in the Israeli military and is close to the Israeli security establishment.
Egozi’s article states that because of the coronavirus pandemic, “Israel’s Ministry of Defense and high command have hammered out an emergency plan for an appeal to Washington.”
The article, which carries a Tel Aviv dateline, reports: “Sources here say the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Israel to ask Washington to make major changes to the [aid] agreement, including a request to receive the annual allocation $3.8 billion earlier than planned.”
U.S. aid to Israel is normally disbursed in October, in a lump sum that is deposited to an interest-bearing Israeli account in the New York Federal Reserve Bank. (Since the U.S. has been operating at a deficit, this means that the U.S. government borrows the money and pays interest on it long after it has gone out.)
Potentially $14,000 per minute from American taxpayersIn addition to receiving the aid earlier than usual, a “senior source” quoted by Egozi suggests that Israel may request that the aid expected for 2024 also be disbursed this year.
If that happens, it would work out to nearly $21 million per day, or $14,460 per minute to Israel from American taxpayers suffering from a devastating hit to the U.S. economy.
Moreover, it is highly likely that when 2024 comes around, the advance would be forgiven, as have numerous U.S. “loans” to Israel, and Israel would get the aid again.
The current aid to Israel is based on a 2016 agreement by the Obama Administration to give Israel $3.8 billion annually for the next 10 years – a total of $38 billion, touted as the largest such aid package in U.S. history. Overall, Israel has received more U.S. aid than any other country, on average, 7,000 times more per capita than others.
While the Obama Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a non-binding agreement, Israel has received this sum every year since it was signed. Israel advocates in Congress are currently seeking to cement it into a law that would permit this amount to go even higher in the future.
A ‘wild idea’ that might not appeal to AmericansEgozi reports that the former president of Israel Aerospace Industries, Joseph Weiss, said asking for the money ahead of time is “a wild idea,” but said it “makes sense in the special conditions created [in Israel] by the pandemic.”
However, it’s unlikely that this would make equivalent sense to Americans, who have been at least as hard hit by the pandemic.
Over 26 million Americans so far have lost their jobs, and many U.S. companies are facing bankruptcy. A comment below Egozi’s article suggests how Americans would respond to a massive outlay to Israel this year:
“Why do Americans put up with all this money going to Israel when millions of them have no healthcare, no job, and are eating from food banks?”
To deflect such outrage, Israel partisans in the U.S. typically defend the aid by saying that it eventually goes to U.S. defense companies. However, they fail to mention that millions of the dollars go to Israeli companies that compete with American businesses, often leading to job losses in the U.S. No other country receiving U.S. military aid is allowed to do this.
In addition, many Americans feel that Israel should use its own money to purchase its weaponry, as the U.S. does. They point out that if Americans wished to subsidize weapons companies, the U.S. government could simply purchase items for American use.
Similarly, a growing number of Americans object to the uses Israel makes of U.S. weapons, regularly deploying them in violation of both international law and U.S. law (also this).
However, the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. is extremely influential in both political parties, and U.S. media rarely report on aid to Israel, so the lump sum could slip through without notice.
An administration official recently said that Israel would not need to worry about money “even if there is a depression.”
Petition by Council for the National InterestA critic of the aid, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, points out that Israel is not an ally, and that it has often “done damage to the United States.” Giraldi, who is currently executive director of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), notes that Israel often spies on the U.S. and has stolen American technology. It also tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship, killing 34 Americans and injuring over 170.
Giraldi is asking people to sign a petition by CNI: “Stop the $3.8 Billion to Israel.”
The petition states: “…We need to take care of Americans and not send our tax money to a wealthy foreign country. Israel has already received billions of dollars from American taxpayers. It has received over $10 million per day, year after year. This year it’s time to keep our money home.”
Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, president of the Council for the National Interest, and author of Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel.
