European financing of Israeli military companies has been denounced by MEPs in the past.
European financing of Israeli military companies has been denounced by MEPs in the past. The European Union has helped fund drone technology used by Israel in its devastating war against Gaza, two monitors have claimed. Statewatch and Informationsstelle Militarisierung (IMI) found in an analysis that Xtend - a drone manufacturer supporting the Israeli Defence Force - received a research and development grant from the EU's Horizon Europe fund. "Other Israeli military companies and institutions received millions of euros for drone development in recent years, despite a supposed prohibition on EU funding for military and defence projects," they added. The European Commission has been approached for comment. Xtend received €50,000 from Horizon Europe, a multi-billion research and innovation fund, to produce a study on optimising its Skylord Xtender drone system and finding "strategic partners for the production and commercialisation of the technology," Statewatch and IMI wrote in a statement published on Friday. The company then signed contracts with the US Department of Defence in 2021, which involved Israel's military, according to the monitors.
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