A call for an arms embargo against the Israeli government from the Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, during “The Madrid Group” conference - May 2025 - raised the attention of the international community on the main suppliers of the country in this domain. 

Even though Israel has a powerful internal supply of weaponry, it still represents one of the top importers of armaments in the world. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that Israel ranks as the 15th largest arms importer in the world. Israel mainly relies on three nations for its weapons imports: the United States, Germany, and Italy.

Italy represents around 1% of Israel’s weaponry imports, yet it remains the third-largest supplier of weaponry to Israel. This is arguably in contrast with Law No. 185 of 9 July 1990, which prohibits transferring weapons to entities involved in an armed conflict. 

Although the Italian government has expressed criticism over Israel’s conduct, reports show that it continued to supply Israel also after the conflict intensified in October 2023. Despite assurances from the Italian government that shipments had ceased, reports indicated that €2.1 million worth of arms were shipped in the last quarter of 2023. Additionally, an analysis performed on government accounts by the Italian news outlet Altreconomia found that Italy supplied €5.2 million in arms to Israel in 2024.

The US has historically been the largest supplier, despite a reduction in its proportional contribution over the last decade; it still accounted for roughly two-thirds of Israel’s arms imports between 2020 and 2024, according to SIPRI. During the same period, Germany was responsible for nearly one-third of Israel’s incoming arms, and that is unlikely to change, as the country has been a long-time diplomatic and military supporter of Israel. 

Related to the matter, the The Hague order of 30 April 2024, regarding Nicaragua’s request with respect to Germany’s “participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law occurring in the Gaza Strip”, demonstrates that arms-exporting countries can also be held responsible when their weapons are used in conflict, as such involvement may imply participation and raise legal accountability under international law. This case led the Court to consider that it is “particularly important to remind all States of their international obligations relating to the transfer of arms to parties to an armed conflict, in order to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate the [Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva] Conventions [on international humanitarian law]”, and that “all these obligations are incumbent upon Germany as a State party to the said Conventions in its supply of arms to Israel”. Notably, Israel maintains a significant supply of military equipment, and the supplier countries would need to join an arms embargo to meaningfully pressure Israel.