The largest private Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, owns a company in Belgium: OIP Sensor Systems. This subsidiary serves as a Trojan horse for Israel's military-industrial strategy in Europe.
Who's Elbit?
Elbit is the largest private Israeli arms company: the industrial arm of the genocide in Palestine. In 2025, Elbit generated 7,884 million euros in profit. It is among the top 50 arms manufacturers globally. It numbers 20,000 employees and produces 80% of the weapons and equipment for Israel’s land forces and 85% of the combat drones (including the infamous Hermes 450 drone). Between January and March 2024 alone, the company's sales in Israel increased by 61.5%.
Beyond its weapons, Elbit is a major player in biometric population surveillance, facilitating totalitarian population control.
Its responsibility for war crimes has been documented by the International Court of Justice and numerous human rights organizations.
Who's OIP?
OIP Sensor Systems is a company in Belgium owned by Elbit. It manufactures optical equipment, mainly for military use, and provides maintenance for tanks. It reported a profit of €57 million in 2023 and employs 125 people in Belgium. It has been owned by Elbit since 2003.
Elbit-OIP: A Pillar of the Israeli Military-Industrial Complex in Europe
Elbit's company OIP is a strategic tool for its European expansion, which is part of a larger Israeli soft power strategy to strengthen their corporate, military, and diplomatic links with the EU and minimize any repercussions for their genocidal and colonial violence.
Elbit's purchase of Belgian company OIP was highly strategic, pursuing two main objectives:
- It allows Elbit to develop its industrial autonomy and branch out in new technologies, benefitting from Belgian military expertise.
- Being present in the country of NATO's headquarters allows Elbit to secure contracts with Belgian and European defense institutions. In 2007, it got a €44.8 million contract to equip 138 armored vehicles of the Belgian army. In 2015, it got a $150 million contract to supply digital equipment systems for soldiers in the Benelux. This is highly profitable for Elbit, but it also builds the dependence of European countries on its products — increasing its influence in the EU.
OIP's deadly business with Israel is ongoing: 17 export licenses for military goods to Israel were granted to OIP between October 2023 and the end of 2024, for a total value of €22.7 million. These mainly involved systems that allow firearms to aim more precisely, such as sights and equipment for thermal images. These are tools that serve to murder innocent people.
Activists in Belgium Are Being Sued for Actions in Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Anuna de Wever was sued by the Belgian state after spray-painting a wall in 2024, found guilty of degradations, and asked to pay a symbolic euro.
7 activists on trial for a blockade: on March 4, 2024, 100 activists blocked an OIP factory in Oudenaarde to protest the genocide in Gaza. Seven of them are being sued by OIP-Elbit, which is claiming damages of 65,000 euros.
Action in Tournai/Doornik: in June 2025, 100 activists disrupted an OIP warehouse as part of the *Stop Arming Israel Belgium* day of action. OIP claimed 1 million euros in damages on the day of the action.
Political Duplicity and the Limits of an Arms Embargo
In 2023, in the first days of the genocide, the VRT revealed that a politician from CD&V, Vincent Van Peteghem (then finance minister), wrote the chair of the board of BNP Paribas Fortis (the Belgian state is a stockholder of the bank). He criticised BNP's relationship with Elbit, recognizing it supplied "the equipment for the drone attacks that were carried out on civilians in the Gaza Strip." "This raises serious questions regarding due diligence and respect for international law and international humanitarian law".
And yet, in February 2025, VRT revealed the Belgian army bought 100 tons of munitions from Elbit since October 2023... Even if the arms embargo announced in September 2025 is applied, the presence of Elbit in Belgium is one more loophole allowing Israel to get rich and build influence here.
The People vs. Elbit
Around the world, people are rising up against Elbit. Actions have been organized in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom & the United States (that we know of!)
They are having an impact:
- According to Elbit itself, the company lost more than 35% of its contracts in the Global South in 2024, largely due to grassroots and civil society pressure.
- In the UK, 3 Elbit factories have been forced to close down because of actions in recent years. (Elbit is freaking out and pressuring the government & British courts to repress the movement for Palestine);
- In 2025, in the US, a student-BDS coalition managed to break a partnership between Elbit and the prestigious MIT university;
- In 2023, Australian students broke a research partnership with Elbit at RMIT university after months of campaigning;
Impunity Stops Here
We demand Elbit Systems' immediate departure from Belgium. All collaborations with Elbit-OIP legitimize the industrial arm of genocide and occupation in Palestine. All public or private partnerships with this company or its subsidiaries must end immediately.
Our politicians won't impose a real military embargo on Israel: let's impose a people's arms embargo!
We call on all those who refuse complicity with genocide and occupation to join this fight. Target, isolate, disrupt, until Elbit and its partners have no more space to act. Together, let's stop the Israeli war machine and end impunity!