Serbia exported more arms to Israel in March, data show, following at least two major arms sales to the country since the October 2023 Hamas attack.
Serbia’s main state-owned arms trader, Yugoimport-SDPR, exported arms to Israel worth 14 million euros in March, according to the customs data of Checkpoint, a portal that collects the Serbian state’s trade information related to business entities.
The information about the 14 million euros arms export deal was also revealed by Serbian media Nova Ekonomija on April 9.
BIRN previously revealed that Serbia has made at least two major arms or ammunition shipments to Israel since the October 2023 Hamas attack, despite a veil of secrecy covering the deals.
Previously, Yugoimport-SDPR exported goods to Israel worth 540,120 euros in October 2023 and worth 510,000 euros in February 2024.
The data do not show whether new export licenses were issued by the Serbian state for exports to Israel in this period.
BIRN sought more detailed information about the exports to Israel, but the Ministry for Trade in March rejected BIRN’s Freedom of Information Act request about arms exports to Israel from October 2023 to February 26, 2024, calling the data “strictly confidential”.
Serbia made no major arms exports to Israel before October 2023.
Most recently, the state-owned ammunition production factory Prvi Partizan, in Uzice, western Serbia, exported around 780,000 euros worth of goods to Israel in March and April 2023.
On April 5, the UN’s Human Rights Council backed a call “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel …to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights”.
On February 23, UN experts warned that any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.
Serbia and Israel are close allies. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone on February 26 on further closening ties.
“A good conversation with Israeli PM Netanyahu about further advancement of bilateral relations,” Vucic posted on Instagram. He said all major issues had been covered during the discussion. Netanyahu for his part praised the Serbian leader as “a true friend of Israel”.
Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack against Israel on October 7, killing over a thousand people, Israel then launched a full-on attack on Gaza, killing 31,045 civilians, the majority of whom are children and women, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The International Court of Justice on 26 January agreed to consider a South African case that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has so far rejected a cease fire, also denying accusations of genocide.
