{"id":1299643,"date":"2023-10-28T12:22:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T12:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2023\/10\/raytheon-general-dynamics-gaza-israel-war-military-industrial-complex\/"},"modified":"2023-10-28T12:22:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T12:22:18","slug":"military-contractors-are-framing-the-israeli-war-on-gaza-as-a-win-for-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/10\/28\/military-contractors-are-framing-the-israeli-war-on-gaza-as-a-win-for-investors\/","title":{"rendered":"Military Contractors Are Framing the Israeli War on Gaza as a Win for Investors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

This week, arms industry executives at both Raytheon and General Dynamics spoke candidly about how Israel\u2019s war on Gaza will be good for business.<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n \n
\n An aerial view of destruction after an Israeli attack in Nuseirat camp, Gaza Strip, on October 22, 2023. (Ashraf Amra \/ Anadolu via Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n \n

Two of America\u2019s largest defense contractors told investors this week that Israel\u2019s brutal war on Gaza will be good for business \u2014 with one executive predicting its recent fourfold increase in artillery production will not be enough to meet additional demand.<\/p>\n

In the weeks since Hamas fighters massacred 1,400 Israeli civilians and kidnapped two hundred hostages, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with thousands<\/a> of bombs \u2014 killing at least 7,300 Palestinians \u2014 and cut off food, water, fuel, and electricity to residents. In advance of a ground invasion, Israel has demanded more than a million people evacuate northern Gaza \u2014 an order the United Nations said<\/a> would be \u201cimpossible . . . without devastating humanitarian consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States provides billions<\/a> in aid to Israel every year, and President Joe Biden recently requested $14 billion<\/a> in new funding for US military aid for Israel, in addition to $61 billion for Ukraine to help the country combat an invasion from Russia.<\/p>\n

US officials have reportedly raised concerns<\/a> that Israel has no real plan for an exit strategy after conducting a ground invasion in Gaza, according to the Financial Times<\/em>. Either way, an escalation to the conflict will undoubtedly benefit defense contractors, which have already experienced a boom in business<\/a> thanks to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine driving higher demand for fighter planes, missiles, tanks, artillery, munitions, and bombs.<\/p>\n

Defense firms RTX (formerly known as Raytheon) and General Dynamics, which are America\u2019s second and third largest<\/a> federal government contractors, have seen their stocks increase more than 10 percent since Hamas\u2019s October 7 attack on Israel. The trend is part of a broader surge<\/a> in stock performance among defense companies.<\/p>\n

This week, executives at both firms spoke candidly about how Israel\u2019s war on Hamas will mean more business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israel situation obviously is a terrible one, frankly, and one that\u2019s just evolving as we speak,\u201d said<\/a> Jason Aiken, chief financial officer and executive vice president at General Dynamics, on Wednesday. \u201cBut I think if you look at the incremental demand potential coming out of that, the biggest one to highlight and that really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued:<\/p>\n

Obviously that\u2019s been a big pressure point up to now with Ukraine, one that we\u2019ve been doing everything we can to support our Army customer. We\u2019ve gone from fourteen thousand rounds per month to twenty thousand very quickly. We\u2019re working ahead of schedule to accelerate that production capacity up to eighty-five thousand, even as high as one hundred thousand rounds per month, and I think the Israel situation is only going to put upward pressure on that demand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last week, roughly one hundred activists gathered outside<\/a> of General Dynamics\u2019 weapons plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to protest the Israeli war, holding signs with slogans like, \u201cGenocide: Brought to You by General Dynamics.\u201d Among other military equipment, General Dynamics manufactures<\/a> nuclear submarines, warships, tanks, and armored fighting vehicles.<\/p>\n

Likewise, during RTX\u2019s earnings call on Tuesday, when asked about a likely increase in US defense funding for Israel, company CEO Greg Hayesv said<\/a> the conflict will likely boost orders for missiles. RTX supplies<\/a> missiles for Israel\u2019s Iron Dome defense system, and produces a variety of other military technologies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think really across the entire Raytheon portfolio, you\u2019re going to see a benefit of this restocking,\u201d said Hayes. \u201cOn top of what we think is going to be an increase in DOD [Department of Defense funding] top line.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> with CNBC on Tuesday, Hayes added<\/a>, \u201cThe war in Gaza or in Israel, again, a tragic situation \u2014 it will eventually lead to additional orders, most likely. Our focus right now is: How do we support the Israeli Defense Force? How do we make sure that they have what they need to be able to defend their country?\u201d<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n

You can subscribe to David Sirota\u2019s investigative journalism project, the\u00a0Lever<\/i>,\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published on Jacobin<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two of America\u2019s largest defense contractors told investors this week that Israel\u2019s brutal war on Gaza will be good for business \u2014 with one executive predicting its recent fourfold increase in artillery production will not be enough to meet additional demand. In the weeks since Hamas fighters massacred 1,400 Israeli civilians and kidnapped two hundred [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1649,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1299643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1299644,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299643\/revisions\/1299644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1299643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1299643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1299643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}