A-Infos (en) Italy, FdCA, IL CANTIERE #40 - Pecunia non olet:Money doesn't smell - economic relations between Israel and the BRICS - Cristiano Valente (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This famous phrase, apparently uttered by Vespasian (Roman emperor 
between 69 and 79 AD), justifying the introduction of a tax on urine 
collected in public latrines to produce ammonia for tanneries, continues 
to be a hallmark of the capitalist economic system today: achieving 
maximum profit justifies any means, even if ethically dubious, 
reprehensible, or even illegal. This behavior is not exclusive to 
criminal and mafia organizations, based on drug trafficking, toxic 
waste, prostitution, arms trafficking, and economic infiltration through 
rigged contracts, or to entrepreneurs who extract their profits from our 
hard, salaried labor. Even formally and legally recognized states 
continue to adhere to this maxim.

This is the case of the so-called BRICS, the grouping of emerging 
economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, hence their 
acronym) which recently met in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7, 2025, and saw 
the formal entry of five more states (Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, 
Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran) and the presence of twenty other states 
considered partners, among which Saudi Arabia stands out, which has 
applied but has not yet officially joined the BRICS. Despite their 
official declarations centered on international law, multilateralism, 
and the sovereignty of peoples, their concrete actions, as in the case 
of Israel's invasion of Gaza, are clearly contradictory: the ten member 
states refuse to designate the crime perpetrated in Gaza as genocide, 
despite it being widely documented and denounced by international bodies 
such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 
The Hague. Furthermore, with the exception of Iran, they have not 
adopted any strong joint measures such as economic sanctions, the 
severance of diplomatic or economic relations, an embargo, or even a 
symbolic suspension of cooperation with the State of Israel.

On the contrary, for most of them, trade relations, particularly in the 
strategic sectors of energy, surveillance technology, infrastructure, 
and weapons, continued or even intensified in 2024 and 2025. South 
Africa, which has filed a complaint with the International Court of 
Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial body of the United Nations, 
continues to export coal to Israel and maintain trade relations. This 
dual and contradictory behavior underscores and highlights a fundamental 
truth: despite their rhetoric based on a "more equitable world order," 
the BRICS primarily defend their own economic, geopolitical, and 
security interests, the bourgeoisies and ruling classes of these states. 
Money does not smell , indeed.

This reality clashes with the hypothetical possibility of an alternative 
pole represented by this bloc of states and should definitively 
undermine the hopes placed by some progressive sectors, including that 
part of the left that defines itself as radical and antagonistic, who 
nurture illusions about the BRICS's willingness to adopt clear 
initiatives in favor of the Palestinian people and peoples in general, 
to the point of pointing to the BRICS as natural allies and actors in an 
alternative social bloc for a peaceful and supportive economy. This 
should also finally make it clear that so-called international legality, 
embodied by international bodies such as the UN and its affiliates, as 
well as trade agreements established through the World Trade 
Organization (WTO), which supposedly aim to promote freer, more 
efficient, and rules-based global trade, have always been legal fictions 
and expressions of power relations between states. In the new 
international situation, characterized by increasingly fierce 
inter-imperialist competition among economic powers, including newly 
minted ones like China and all the BRICS, they inevitably lose their 
meaning, having to reconfigure and redefine themselves, crystallizing 
future imperialist power relations. This trade war increasingly risks 
turning into a full-blown war, where the only victims will always be 
proletarians and civilian populations, as we are already witnessing in 
the horrors of Palestine, Ukraine, and the countless armed conflicts 
plaguing the world. Proletarian internationalism is increasingly 
becoming a necessary horizon for the emancipation of the working masses: 
for this reason we will briefly examine the relations between the BRICS 
member countries and Israel.

Chinese Factories and Investments in Israel

Considering the European Union as a single economy, the EU is the 
leading exporter to Israel, with goods exported to Israel in 2024 worth 
approximately $26 billion. In reality, each EU country trades with 
Israel separately, and Germany leads the way in terms of exports to 
Israel, with approximately $6 billion in 2024. However, considering EU 
member states' trade with Israel, China is the leading exporter to 
Israel in 2024, ahead of the United States, which sold goods and 
services to Israel worth just over $9 billion in the same period. China 
exported goods to Israel worth $13 billion in 2022, $16 billion in 2023, 
and $19 billion in 2024, with growth continuing in 2025. According to 
Chinese sources, China was Israel's leading source of imports in 2024, 
for the fifth consecutive year. Israel's trade deficit with China is 
very large: it is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2024. High-tech 
products predominate among the goods traded between Israel and China: 
electrical and electronic equipment, industrial machinery, optical and 
medical products are among the main categories traded.

Among the products manufactured by China for Israel are drones that were 
not originally intended for military use, but were instead weaponized by 
the Israeli army to carry out its genocide against the Palestinians. 
These drones are produced by DJI (Da-Jiang Innovations), a private 
Chinese company based in Shenzhen, China, and a world leader in the 
production of civilian and professional drones.

China has made significant investments in two strategically important 
Israeli ports on the Mediterranean, Ashdod and Haifa. The Chinese 
company China Harbor Engineering Company, a subsidiary of China 
Communications Construction Company, modernized and expanded the Ashdod 
Port Terminal, one of Israel's major commercial hubs. This project 
increased the port's capacity and improved infrastructure to accommodate 
growing international trade. The modernization of Ashdod Port has 
strengthened its strategic position in the region, facilitating trade 
between China and Israel, particularly within the framework of the Belt 
and Road Initiative. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation, 
another major Chinese company, acquired a significant stake in the Haifa 
Container Terminal in partnership with the Israeli government. This 
project, like the Ashdod Terminal, has enabled Israel to attract 
investment in port infrastructure improvements. In the case of Haifa's 
port facilities, Chinese investors are also collaborating with Indian 
companies.

In addition to ports, Chinese companies are also investing in other 
infrastructure sectors, such as transportation, energy, and high-tech. 
For example, projects in intelligent transportation technologies, 
artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and telecommunications are 
currently under development, with the participation of major Chinese 
companies such as Huawei and ZTE (Zhongxing Semiconductor), a Chinese 
multinational technology company that produces telecommunications 
systems and mobile devices.

Russia and Israel: Two blocs, one market, no scruples

Despite geopolitical tensions and its proximity to the United States and 
the European Union, Israel is currently not applying sanctions against 
Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and Russia, in turn, is not applying 
sanctions against Israel despite the ongoing genocide. Israel is still 
partially dependent on Russia for its food (grains) and energy (oil, 
gas, coal), while exporting high-value products to Russia, such as 
agricultural products, medical equipment, chemicals, and electronics; 
Israel, however, has a significant trade deficit with Russia. Trade 
volume reached $3.5 billion in 2022, fell to $2.6 billion in 2023 
following the imposition of sanctions on Russia, and rose to $3.9 
billion in 2024.

New Delhi, between weapons and anti-Palestinian propaganda

Trade between India and Israel has grown to approximately $10 billion, 
and in particular, according to Moneycontrol.com (a leading financial 
website in India), arms trade between Israel and India increased 33-fold 
between 2015 and 2024, reaching $185 million. Israel supplies missiles, 
munitions, and defense systems to India, while India supplies Israel 
with weapons (including drones), petroleum products, diamonds and other 
precious stones, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The New 
Internationalist magazine writes in its January 2025 edition that:

Indian companies such as Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, Premier 
Explosives, and the state-owned Munitions India are actively supplying 
drones and weapons to Israel, as the latter continues its genocidal war 
against the people of Gaza. In April, eager not to jeopardize these 
agreements, India abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution 
calling for a ceasefire and an arms embargo against Israel. For its 
part, Israel has continued to supply military equipment to India without 
interruption, a significant commitment given that Israel has postponed 
over $1.5 billion in arms exports to other countries since October 2023. 
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, India has 
become a key player in Israel's arms trade. As the world's largest arms 
importer, the South Asian country has become Israel's most reliable 
buyer, accounting for 37% of its total arms exports.

Modi's Bharatija Janata Party (BJP) and the entire Indian Hindu right 
have shaped a political and ideological climate in which solidarity with 
Palestine is increasingly attacked, denigrated, or delegitimized. This 
ideological posture is evident in the Modi government's diplomatic 
stance, which has avoided direct criticism of Israel during the bombing 
of Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank, both during the current 
invasion and during the crises of 2014 and 2021. It is also evident in 
the actions of Prime Minister Modi, who in 2017 was the first to break 
with tradition and visit Israel without entering the Palestinian 
territories.

The Ambiguities of South Africa

Following a complaint against Israel filed on December 29, 2023, with 
the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations court 
responsible for settling disputes between states, the ICJ ordered Israel 
on January 26, 2024, to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in the 
Gaza Strip. However, Israel has since continued its genocide of the 
Palestinian people, intensifying its humanitarian blockade. None of the 
four founding states of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) 
initially joined South Africa's complaint, and only Brazil, in July 
2025, announced its intention to join the complaint against Israel in 
the future. Among the ten countries that currently comprise the BRICS, 
only Egypt has joined the complaint.

Nonetheless, South Africa continues to trade with Israel, particularly 
by supplying coal: according to some sources, 15% of the coal consumed 
by Israel comes from South Africa. The main "Giolittian" argument 
advanced by the Pretoria authorities to justify continued coal supplies 
to Israel is that blocking it would violate WTO rules.

Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation 
of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, writes in her 
report From the Economy of Occupation to the Economy of Genocide at 
point 89:

"Mining and extractive conglomerates, while providing civilian energy 
sources, have fueled Israel's military and energy infrastructure, both 
of which are used to create living conditions aimed at destroying the 
Palestinian people."

Note that this report was made public at the end of June 2025, ahead of 
the BRICS summit; however, the final declaration of the Rio de Janeiro 
summit, published on July 6, 2025, makes no reference to it.

Brazil and howitzers

Trade between Brazil and Israel amounts to just under $2 billion, with 
Brazil importing more from Israel than it exports. Exports to Israel 
include crude oil, which accounts for a quarter of Brazil's exports, and 
genetically modified meat and soy, which each account for 20%; the 
remaining goods for Israel include kosher chicken and weapons, among 
others. In 2024, Brazil exported a limited amount of weapons to Israel 
(just under $2 million), but these were war munitions; conversely, in 
the same year, Brazil imported war weapons from Israel worth just under 
$9 million. Brazil thus maintains an arms trade with Israel despite the 
genocide and, above all, maintains significant technological cooperation 
in the defense sector, primarily with the Israeli company Elbit and its 
Brazilian subsidiary Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa. Elbit Systems is 
explicitly mentioned in Francesca Albanese's report, where, at point 31, 
we read:

The military-industrial complex has become the economic pillar of the 
state. Between 2020 and 2024, Israel was the eighth-largest arms 
exporter in the world. Israel's two largest arms companies-Elbit 
Systems, founded as a public-private partnership and later privatized, 
and the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)-are among the 
world's top 50 arms producers. Since 2023, Elbit has collaborated 
closely with Israeli military operations, placing key personnel in the 
Ministry of Defense, and was awarded the 2024 Israel Defense Prize. 
Elbit and IAI provide a vital domestic supply of weapons and strengthen 
Israel's military alliances through arms exports and the joint 
development of military technologies.

At point 33 Albanese adds:

Hexacopter and quadcopter drones have also been ubiquitous killing 
machines in the skies over Gaza. Drones, largely developed and supplied 
by Elbit Systems and IAI, have long flown alongside these warplanes, 
monitoring Palestinians and providing intelligence on targets. Over the 
past two decades, with the support of these companies and the 
collaboration of institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology (MIT), Israeli drones have been equipped with automated 
weapons systems and have acquired the ability to fly in swarm formations.

Military cooperation between Brazil and Israel through Elbit and its 
subsidiary Ares is well established: Ares supplied Brazil with remotely 
operated weapon stations (RCWS, REMAX) under a contract worth 
approximately $100 million; the cooperation extends beyond physical 
exchanges, with technology transfers, co-production, and training 
through Elbit/Ares. Furthermore, in April 2024, under pressure from the 
Ministry of Defense, the Brazilian VBCOAP (armored self-propelled 
howitzer) program designated the ATMOS 2000 155 mm truck-mounted system 
(Tatra T 815 6x6), developed by Elbit, as the winner of a tender that 
also involved the Caesar (France), the SH 15 (China), and the Zuzana 2 
(Slovakia/Czechia). The initial contract called for the acquisition of 
thirty-six howitzers: two units were to be delivered within 12 months 
for technical and operational evaluation in Brazil. The remaining 34 
systems will be delivered annually until 2034. The total contract value 
is estimated at $150-200 million, or even $210 million according to some 
sources. The project was "frozen" in October 2024, but no executive 
order canceling it has been signed.

Egypt, the paid guard of Rafah

It is first important to underline that in June 2025, Egyptian 
authorities repressed thousands of people from dozens of countries and 
prevented them from traveling within Egypt to the Rafah border crossing 
to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people, call for an end 
to the genocide, and advocate for a ceasefire. On June 10, activists 
from over fifty countries launched the Global March for Gaza, a civil 
initiative led by a broad international coalition to denounce the 
Israeli blockade and call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to 
Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. However, the Egyptian 
authorities prevented the march from taking place, launching a smear 
campaign against the organizers from the outset. The repression then 
intensified, with arrests on the streets, in hotels, and in restaurants, 
passport confiscations, destruction of cell phones, and the blocking of 
convoys from leaving Cairo. Violence and detentions were also observed 
in Ismailia, where two hundred activists were arrested, and several 
pushbacks and expulsions were also reported at Cairo airport.

This crackdown reflects the growing collaboration between Egypt, Israel, 
and the United States, at the expense of solidarity with Palestine. 
Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, this collaboration has intensified 
to unprecedented levels, with security cooperation, increased economic 
dependence on Israeli gas, implicit support for the blockade of Gaza, 
strict control of the Rafah crossing, and the dismantling of commercial 
tunnels to Gaza. The Egyptian regime continues to systematically repress 
pro-Palestinian protests, and even symbolic gestures such as waving a 
Palestinian flag can lead to accusations of terrorism.

In 2022, trade between Egypt and Israel was estimated at approximately 
$300 million, down from approximately $330 million estimated for 2021. 
In 2023, trade increased by 56% compared to the previous year, to an 
estimated total of approximately $468 million. Growth accelerated in 
2024, with a 168% jump in the fourth quarter. The main Israeli product 
purchased by Egypt is natural gas, which accounted for 15-20% of Egypt's 
consumption at the beginning of 2025.

Despite their conflicted history (punctuated by numerous wars between 
1948 and 1973), Egypt and Israel maintain a covert but substantial 
military cooperation. Since 2007, Egypt and Israel have maintained a de 
facto blockade of Gaza, restricting the movement of goods and people and 
monitoring tunnels. The two countries conduct joint operations to 
destroy tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, with Israeli technological 
assistance. Egypt has acquired Israeli surveillance systems (including 
Elbit radar) through European intermediaries, and according to a March 
7, 2024, Wall Street Journal article, Israel has carried out covert 
attacks on weapons transiting through Egypt to Gaza, with the tacit 
consent of the Egyptian authorities. The $1.3 billion in US military aid 
to Egypt is conditional on Cairo's cooperation with Israel, with the 
United States acting as guarantor.

The Alliance's Weapon: Emirates, Israel, and the USA

In 2020, under President Donald Trump, the Abraham Accords led to the 
normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates; 
on August 29, 2020, a few weeks after the accords were announced, the 
Emirates repealed the 1972 federal law prohibiting economic relations 
with Israel. Prior to this repeal, increasingly close relations had 
gradually been established, but this decision legalized bilateral trade 
and investment, the import and sale of Israeli products, and scientific, 
cultural, and technological cooperation, among others. Following the 
Abraham Accords, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was 
signed on May 31, 2022, and entered into force on April 1, 2023, 
eliminating or significantly reducing tariffs on approximately 96% of 
tariff lines and 99% of trade value. This agreement aims to increase the 
value of trade between the UAE and Israel to over $10 billion within 
five years of its conclusion. The conflict in Gaza reduced the 
visibility of trade in 2024, but trade remained active and growing, and 
as evidence of this, trade volume, which reached $2.5 billion in 2022, 
is expected to reach $5 billion in 2025. According to Bloomberg, by 
2025, around six hundred Israeli companies will be operating in the 
United Arab Emirates, and according to a 2023 report by the Dubai 
Chamber of Commerce, more than two hundred Emirati companies have formed 
partnerships or opened operations in Israel since the normalization of 
relations.

Arms trade between Israel and the UAE has been very substantial since 
the 2020 normalization agreement, primarily involving anti-aircraft 
systems (SPYDER, Barak 8, Iron Dome), drones, and electronics, and is 
also based on industrial cooperation. Although details of specific 
contracts remain confidential, arms trade has accelerated since 2022, 
with increased public visibility from 2024-2025 through arms trade fairs 
such as the biennial IDEX fair. Thirty-four Israeli arms companies were 
present at the last IDEX fair, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February 
2025, along with the Emirati company EDGE, which actively collaborates 
with Israeli arms companies such as Elbit, Rafael, IAI, RT, and Thirdeye.

There is also military cooperation, not officially claimed by either 
country, partly explained by both governments' hostility toward Iran and 
its influence in the region. The same applies to their shared interests 
against the Houthis in Yemen: since the start of the war in Yemen in 
2015, the United Arab Emirates has increased its military presence in 
the region, particularly on the island of Socotra, the main island of 
the archipelago of the same name and officially Yemeni. The Emirates 
have occupied the island, established a military base, and are 
cooperating with the Israeli army. The Socotra archipelago, located off 
the coast of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, controls crucial trade routes 
between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 20,000 merchant 
ships pass through the Socotra archipelago each year, 9% of which are 
destined for the world's annual oil supply. The Emirates are also 
collaborating with Israel, India, and several EU countries (Italy, 
Germany, France, Greece) on a land route connecting the Gulf of Dubai to 
the port of Haifa via the Arabian Peninsula, via Riyadh, in order to 
avoid the passage of Asia-Europe trade through the Suez Canal.

It is important to note that the United Arab Emirates is the only BRICS 
member country to have a permanent US military base on its territory, 
which is obviously linked to its policy of cooperation with Israel; the 
US military presence in the UAE is significant, strategic, and 
long-term, part of a bilateral defense cooperation that strengthened 
after the 1991 Gulf War. Near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, the 
United States maintains a military base that hosts fighter jets (F-22s 
and occasionally F-35s), surveillance aircraft (AWACS, JSTARS), armed 
drones (MQ-9 Reapers), tanker aircraft, etc. This base is a key 
logistics hub for US operations in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Syria, 
for the CENTCOM (Middle East/Central Asia) command, and for monitoring 
Iran. The US military personnel number approximately 2,000-3,000, 
stationed permanently or on rotation. The United States has deployed 
missile defense systems such as the Patriot PAC-3 in the UAE, while the 
UAE cooperates with the US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, participates 
in joint naval exercises and initiatives such as the International 
Maritime Security Coalition in the Strait of Hormuz, and also provides 
access to Emirati ports to the US fleet and its allies.

Israeli East Africa

Despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza, military cooperation between 
Israel and Ethiopia, a full member of the BRICS, continues: according to 
several sources, Israel remains one of Ethiopia's main military 
suppliers, particularly through the sale of air defense systems such as 
the Spyder-MR, intended to protect the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam 
from potential air attacks. Military cooperation has been ongoing since 
the 1960s, despite regime changes in Addis Ababa: Israel has trained 
paratrooper units and counterinsurgency forces for the Ethiopian army 
(Nebelbal Division), supplied 150,000 rifles and cluster bombs, and sent 
military advisors to train the Presidential Guard. Since November 2020, 
a cooperation agreement has also been in place between the Mossad and 
the Ethiopian National Security Service, which covers the exchange of 
expertise and counterinsurgency.

Due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the military partnership between 
Ethiopia and Israel is relatively modest, but it contributes 
significantly to Ethiopia's security strategy and Israeli influence in 
East Africa. This relationship includes intelligence sharing, strategic 
coordination, and strengthening Ethiopian capabilities.

It's worth noting that Israel maintains excellent relations in this 
region with the Museveni regime in Uganda (represented at the BRICS 
summit in Rio by Vice President Alupo). Trade between Israel and 
Ethiopia is limited, around $100 million annually, but Israeli companies 
are increasingly interested in investing in Ethiopia's agricultural sector.

Spyware in the Golden Heart of Asia

In mid-July 2025, Indonesia officially joined the Hague Group at the 
emergency summit in Bogotá, held on July 15-16, 2025. It is thus among 
the thirteen countries that have formally committed to implementing 
concrete and coordinated measures to respect international law in the 
face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Trade with Israel is low, less 
than $200 million annually, but in the most populous Muslim country and 
a full member of the BRICS, which does not maintain official diplomatic 
relations with Israel, the reality is quite different: in May 2024, a 
joint investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Amnesty 
International, and Tempo revealed that Indonesia had imported espionage 
and surveillance technology from Israel. The investigation revealed that 
Indonesia imported and deployed a wide range of highly intrusive spyware 
and other sophisticated surveillance technologies between 2017 and 2023. 
Several Israeli companies were identified as indirect suppliers: NSO 
Group (via Q Ciber Technologies, Luxembourg), which produced the Pegasus 
spyware; Intellexa Consortium, known for its Predator software; 
Candiru/Saito Tech; and Wintego Systems Ltd. The spyware acquired by 
Indonesia, such as Pegasus, Predator, and others, is designed to be 
ultra-invisible, infect without explicit interaction, and allow the 
management of images, messages, calls, location, and so on. Among the 
actors who acquired these technologies are the Indonesian National 
Police, the National Agency for Cybersecurity and Cryptography, and, 
according to some media reports, the Ministry of Defense. Amnesty 
International has warned that these devices pose a serious risk to civil 
rights, including freedom of expression and privacy.

Note

To make reading easier, we have omitted references and notes relating to 
the data reported, taken from the website of the Committee for the 
Abolition of Illegitimate Debt ( 
https://www.cadtm.org/Pourquoi-les-BRICS-ne-denoncent-pas-le-genocide-en-cours-a-Gaza 
) and from the report by Francesca Albanese From the economy of 
occupation to the economy of genocide ( 
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025 
).

https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en