SPAIN - Buying Israeli Weapons Through Germany

The Spanish government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s is one of the most anti-Israeli in the EU, and this was demonstrated in June 2025, when the Ministry of Defense in Madrid suspended a euro285 million deal to procure Spike LR2 anti-tank missiles from Rafael Advance Defense Systems as a protest against the war in Gaza.

This meant Spain needed advanced missiles from elsewhere, so it turned to EuroSpike.

Rafael owns 20% of the European company, with German companies Rheinmetall and Diehl, which each hold 40%. This company produces MELLS, the European variant of the Spike LR2, through which the Spaniards will also be able to use the Spike LR missiles that they have been operating for 17 years. The Sánchez government justified the deal by saying that the components of MELLS are manufactured in Europe.

Despite the embargo, official trade data indicates that Spain continues to buy weapons from Israel, reaching €7 million in 2024 and €10.2 million in 2025. Over the past year, Spain imported €6.8 million worth of bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles, and similar munitions. Another €3.4 million worth of war weaponry and ammunition were also imported.

-www.jpost.com, 17 February 2026

Commentary: No weapons to Israel and no weapons from Israel. That was Spain’s decision in June of 2025.

It was a mistake. Now the new military reality caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine requires nations to take certain defensive steps. Who has the experience? Who has the knowledge? Who has the answers, at least from a military perspective? Israel! Spain must now embarrassingly seek to buy advanced missiles through a European partner, Germany.

While the State of Israel owns Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., there is more to it since the defense industry is quite often involved with other nations—in this case, Germany’s Rheinmetall and Diehl—each holding 40% in the European-Israeli company.

For Spain, however, it’s the only avenue. Yet as the article concludes, despite embargoes, Spain still bought €7 million of Israel’s weapons in 2024 and €10.2 million in 2025.

This development shows again that there is no such thing as national isolation. Each depends on the other, and indeed the world has become one family, just waiting for the right man to take the reins.