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Perhaps no Israeli military connection has attracted more attention than that in Central America. In absolute terms, Israeli arms sales to the area have been modest,* not at all comparable to those made to Argentina, for example. However, relative to the size of the countries involved and their limited armed forces, Israel has been a major supplier with its weapons sales occasionally rivaling those of the United States.

Tucked away in an article on Israeli-Latin American relations written by a former Israeli ambassador to Bolivia and Peru is the passing remark that “a considerable percentage of Israeli defense industry exports go to Latin America” and that “for obvious reasons very little has been published about this subject.”1 It is true that, aside from fragmentary coverage in press reports, the military dimensions of these relations and, in particular, weapons transfers have not received the attention they deserve. Indeed, the only book devoted to Israeli-Latin American relations treats the military aspect of these relationships more or less on a par with diplomatic, economic, and even cultural ties.2 Therefore, this study seeks to remedy the gap with a more sustained treatment of the subject, not only for its intrinsic interest—Israeli-Latin American relations now being dominated by the military component—but also because Latin America provides a good starting point for shedding light on the Israeli arms industry and export policies, and their implications and consequences both for Israel and the areas in which it operates.

Ecuador is one of Israel’s oldest friends in Latin America. In 1963 Ecuador and Bolivia were the first Latin American countries to adopt Israel’s Nahal-type military-agricultural programs, which introduced the use of armed forces for agricultural tasks. The program was intended to provide a model for civic action and a way of tackling national problems. More importantly, since the military had recently ousted the constitutional government, the program’s aim of building a positive and constructive image of the armed forces was particularly relevant.1 Seven years after the program was inaugurated, an Ecuadoran military publication wrote of the Nahal program: The State of Israel, through the Units of Nahal, shows us a new road in military organization and philosophy. It is showing us that the armed forces can widen the scope of their activities, for the benefit of the rural population, with a humanitarian mission … and even more, it has demonstrated to us that the soldier-farmer is the one who defends his farm with greater eagerness and heroism, and while defending his land, his family, he is defending his fatherland.2

Israel’s achievement in establishing an arms industry of impressive dimensions that produces a diversity of technologically sophisticated weapons is beyond dispute. The stunning growth of its exports over the past decade and a half from $100 million in 1970 to between $1 to $2 billion in the early 1980s is a reflection not merely of the growth of the industry and the high performance of its products, but also of Israel’s ability to seize the opportunities offered by the vagaries of international politics, undeterred by the nature of the regime it is supplying.

Israel launched its military industry on a large scale in the wake of the June 1967 war under the impetus of the arms embargo declared by France, its major supplier. Within a few years, the nation had developed an advanced arms industry unmatched in the third world in terms of technological sophistication.