Israel supplied arms to Myanmar until 2022 despite embargo, military coup – report

Israel supplied advanced military equipment to Myanmar at least until the start of 2022, nearly a year after a military coup in the Southeast Asian nation, the Haaretz daily reports.

Israel Aerospace Industries sold the Myanmar air force radar systems despite an international arms embargo and an Israeli High Court decision to halt arms supplies to the nation.

The report cites documents and sources.

The report says it is also possible that one of the IAI shipments contained parts for naval vessels that Israel has sold to Myanmar.

Elbit reportedly sent drone parts among other equipment.

An international embargo has been in place on Myanmar’s armed forces since 2016, when the military began a brutal counterinsurgency campaign that drove more than 700,000 members of the Rohingya minority into neighboring Bangladesh in what international investigators branded a “genocide.”

In 2017 the Supreme Court upheld an appeal seeking a prohibition on implementation of a defense cooperation agreement signed between Israel and Myanmar. As a result, military export licenses were revoked.

International efforts to halt arms supplies to Myanmar were further stepped up following a military coup in 2021.

In statements to Haaretz, IAI denies the report, while Elbit declines to comment.