Philippines struggles to impose Israel arms ban

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The Philippines government has declared, following domestic political pressure and Israel’s refusal to recognize the boundaries of its economic waters in the South China Sea, that it will stop placing new orders from Israeli defense companies. However, the quantity of Israeli systems in its security forces is so extensive that Manila has no choice but to continue to receive extensive services from Israeli defense companies in general, and Elbit Systems in particular.

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MaxDefense Philippines reports that Elbit continues to train and support the Philippines’ drone and UAV program, alongside its subcontractors. The services include Tier 1, short-range unmanned aerial vehicles of the Thor and Skylark 1 models; Tier 2, with medium-sized Skylark 3 drones; and Tier 3, with medium-altitude, long-endurance UAVs, within the framework of which Hermes 450s were supplied.

Another method that Manila uses to circumvent its Israel ban is through procurements from Elbit subsidiaries. For example, last month they purchased sonar systems from Geospectrum, which is fully owned by Elbit. Although this deal is relatively small, at $41 million, it indicates that the Philippines is not actually boycotting the purchase of new Israeli systems.

Published by Globes, Israel business news — en.globes.co.il — on November 6, 2025.