More than 230 organisations worldwide have called on the Australian government to immediately halt the transfer of all F-35 jet components to Israel.
The appeal is part of a push coordinated by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) to put pressure on governments producing F-35 fighter jets or parts. As well as Australia, that includes Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US.
In Australia, the campaign has been supported by organisations including Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Free Palestine Melbourne, the Jewish Council of Australia and the Medical Association for Prevention of War.
F-35 jets have been central to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its escalating attacks on the West Bank.
The campaign statement says, “These jets have been operating in Gaza armed with munitions including 2,000-pound bombs—explosives with a lethal radius up to 365 metres, an area the equivalent of 58 football pitches.
“In June 2024, a UN report identified these bombs as having been used in ‘emblematic’ cases of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on Gaza that ‘led to high numbers of civilian fatalities and widespread destruction of civilian objects’.
“On 2 September 2024 … an F-35 was used in July to drop three 2,000-pound bombs in an attack on a so-called ‘safe zone’ on Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, killing 90 Palestinians. This bombardment follows the pattern of Israeli attacks in Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law.”
More than 70 Australian companies are involved in manufacturing parts for F-35s.
As Solidarity reported in April last year, “Many of the Australian companies arming Israel—including Ferra, HTA, Quickstep, L3Harris and BAE Systems Australia—do so through contributions to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program. The completed jets are sold to Israel by the US …
“Every F-35A Lightning II that the Israeli Air Force has used to drop bombs on Gaza since 7 October involves components manufactured in Australia. As long as our government refuses to stop arming Israel, these companies will be profiting off genocide.”
The CAAT-organised statement is a reminder that Australia and other Western nations are making Israeli genocide possible.
It concludes, “We call on all F-35 partners to do everything in their power to bring the F-35 program in line with their legal obligations and immediately halt the direct and indirect transfer of F-35 parts and components to Israel.”
By David Glanz
