Tilburg parties fear local arms deal could supply Israeli army

Dutch defence firm AIA has announced plans to manufacture Israeli-designed guns in Tilburg, prompting six local parties to ask whether the council can stop the weapons ending up with the Israeli army.

D66, PRO, Denk, the Party for the Animals (PvdD), the Socialist Party (SP), and local party VoorTilburg013 submitted written questions to the council’s executive, regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant reported on Tuesday.

The parties say ties with Israeli arms maker IWI are undesirable because of the war in Gaza and the situation in the West Bank. Five of the six also want to know whether AIA has permission to make weapons in Tilburg, whether it could be withdrawn, and whether IWI will continue to earn money from the guns.

AIA announced on Monday that it had bought the designs and know-how for two IWI weapons, the Arad 5 rifle and the Negev UX light machine gun, which it says are particularly useful for anti-drone warfare. Production will start in Tilburg before moving to a larger site in Overijssel.

The guns are intended for European countries and Nato partners. It is not clear whether they could also be sold to Israel.

AIA director Gerard Zondervan told broadcaster NOS the deal was “just a business transaction” and that the company had had no contact with the Dutch government about it.

In January, MPs adopted a motion calling on the government to phase out the Netherlands’ dependence on the Israeli arms industry.

It said the Netherlands had bought €2 billion worth of military equipment from Israeli firms in recent years, and that it was undesirable to depend on military industries “involved in war crimes”.

Less than two months later, MPs adopted another motion, from the orthodox Protestant SGP, asking the government to actively seek cooperation with Israel in developing a European air and missile defence system.