Civil society groups across globe call for end to F-35 jet exports to Israel

The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) said in a statement on Tuesday that the civil society organizations urged all government partners in the F-35 fighter jet supply chain, including the Australian government, to “immediately halt all direct and indirect transfers of F-35 parts and components to Israel in accordance with their international legal obligations.”

F-35 partner countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US, have thus far “refused to cease exporting parts and components manufactured in their countries for use in F-35 fighter jets, despite their ultimate end use by Israel in aerial attacks that have caused devastating and irreparable harm to Palestinians in Gaza,” it said in a statement.

Signatories to the joint call include organizations from Europe, the Americas, and Asia, as well as the Arab world.

South Africa was the first nation to drag Israel to the ICJ over its genocidal war on Gaza that has claimed more than 48,000 lives and reduced the enclave to rubble. A ceasefire that took hold on Jan. 19 is currently in place.

“The fragility of the Gaza ceasefire underscores the risk of further violations and the need to halt arms exports to Israel, including F-35s. This is also highlighted by Israel’s continued illegal use of military fighter jets in the occupied West Bank, especially Jenin,” said the letter.

The ACIJ said Israel’s use of F-35 jets—with Australian-made sole-source parts—in its wide-scale bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza has been publicly documented.

In one such instance, an F-35 jet was used by Israel in July 2024 to drop three 2,000-lb (907-kg) bombs on Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Gaza, a so-called “safe zone,” killing 90 Palestinians,” it recalled.

It added many civil society organizations in several F-35 partner jurisdictions have initiated legal action to challenge the direct and indirect export of parts and components in the F-35 supply chain to Israel, seeking to hold governments accountable.

The ACIJ itself has mounted one such legal challenge in Australia.

‘Australian society is being degraded’

Sociologist Jake Lynch told Anadolu that Australia's Ferra aerospace company was the “sole supplier of a crucial component in the F-35 global supply chain.”

“And from the US or UK, it is almost certainly then being exported to Israel,” he said.

He said both the UK and Australian governments have “stated that no weapons embargo on exports to Israel would include the F-35 supply chain, for fear of upsetting” the US.

He recalled Ferra's Brisbane plant is “subject to regular protest actions over this.”

Lynch, who teaches at Sydney University, regretted: “Australian society is being degraded because of the political consensus, among parties of government, for military cooperation with the US—which means allying with Israel come what may.”

Canberra invested nearly $14B in blacklisted firms

Rita Jabri Markwell, a solicitor at Birchgrove Legal in Sydney, told Anadolu that since Oct. 7, 2023, the Australian government had invested $13.785 billion in blacklisted companies.

These firms have been backlisted by the UN for arms transfer to Israel after Oct. 07, 2023, she added.

“Australia is failing to meet its binding obligation to prevent genocide while rewarding those responsible with lucrative contracts,” Markwell said in an email interview.

She clarified that it was “binding on Australia to prevent genocide.”

“Genocide is different from other crimes in that… there is a binding duty on states not only to punish it but to prevent it,” said Markwell.

She said orders issued by the ICJ on Jan. 26 last year and the warnings issued by the UN to all member states on Feb. 23 and June 20 last year “make it clear that this duty is now in effect.”

“The ongoing dealings reveal a significant conflict of interest, preventing the Australian government from imposing sanctions. Sanctioning these companies would likely trigger intense scrutiny over why the government has allocated billions to them despite being fully aware of the situation. This raises serious questions about the misuse of public funds and power and the evasion of legal obligations to maintain political survival,” she explained.