Israel refuses to halt arms supply to Myanmar


Israel has refused to stop supplying arms to Myanmar army saying that "the matter is clearly diplomatic." "Despite the fact that the Myanmar government continues to commit crimes, Israel insists on the supply of weapons there," according to the article published by Israel's newspaper Hareetz.

The article stated that Myanmar Gen. Min Aung Hlaing had organized a "shopping trip" to Israel in September 2015 to meet with Israeli weapons producers.

The article also pointed out that Israeli human rights activists applied to the Israeli Supreme Court for the sale of arms to Myanmar and that the court would consider the matter at the end of September.

In the preliminary defense issued by the Israeli Defense Ministry in March, it was argued that Tamar Zandberg, an Israeli parliament member, on June 5th in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) session of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, said that the issue was "an open diplomatic issue" that he gave a question to Myanmar regarding the sale of the weapons. "The Knesset is not the right place to talk about the issue," Defense Minister Lieberman said according to the article.

Liberman said, "Israel is bound to the whole enlightened world, the Western states, and the United States, which is the biggest exporter of weapons, we see ourselves connected to them and continue the same policy." However, the article suggested that the U.S. and EU forbade the sale of arms to Myanmar.