"New Report Sheds Light on Global Involvement in Outfitting Israel’s Military", 18 February 2025

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Commissioned by the Clean Clothes Campaign...the report outlines how military apparel and accessories manufacturers across India, Vietnam, and Türkiye are linked to companies in Israel allegedly supplying the Israel Defense Forces...

Research carried out by The Counter, an arm of the nonprofit Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, has begun to untangle how tactical vests, helmets, and other battlefield gear move across borders—often with little transparency...

The Counter’s first search using the customs code, which limited the data range from October 2023 to May 2024, produced a total of 44 shipments from various American states...Suppliers and purchasers, however, were unknown, illustrating just how opaque global supply chains are and the difficulties of tracing sensitive shipments...

Using the names of 15 companies identified in preliminary research as possible IDF suppliers (14 by CCC, one by The Counter), researchers were able to draw links between seven of the Israeli companies and nine suppliers across India, Vietnam, and Türkiye in the 12 months to June 2024. These included Akiro Protech, Viraj Syntex, Star Aerospace, Sundaram Industries, and Kwik Patch in India; MK Vina, Light to Summit Vina, and Outdoorpark Vina in Vietnam; and Garanti Kompozit in Türkiye.

The scope of the research was limited only to suppliers who have a direct relationship with the buyer. Unaccounted for in the research, therefore, is the extended supply chain of those who grew or extracted fibres, processed and produced certain textiles, or manufactured various parts such as zips or buttons...

Israeli companies Polaris Solutions, Masada Armour, Hagor, Marom Dolphin, Agilite, and Source Tactical Gear are among those that have received shipments including backpacks, helmets and helmet cover pads, ceramic plates (used in bulletproof vests, per The Counter), tactical vests, belts, woven fabrics, and coated textiles, according to the report. Israeli army web shop Kasda is reported as selling items from some of the aforementioned suppliers...

None of the brands, except Masada Armour, responded to requests for comment...The Counter acknowledges a possibility that the goods listed in the report were transferred to another party before reaching their final destination, cautioning that it is “in theory, possible that the important companies re-exported the products.”

A representative from Masada Armour said...the business is “an Israeli company that manufactures products for the IDF and other Israeli defense agencies and also supplies its goods to customers worldwide. Masada Armour is a proud leading supplier to the IDF and defense agencies in Israel and around the world.” The company rep characterized Masada Armour’s shipments in the report—helmets and a ceramic plate—as “examples only for research and development purposes, and not for sale at all.”...

...Clean Clothes Campaign hopes to bring to light how the textile industry is facilitating Israel’s aggression.

“In these horrific instances of violence, more than one industry is complicit, more than one industry is benefitting,” said Alena Ivanova, campaigns and activism lead at Labour Behind the Label...“We wanted to know what links the [textile] industry as a whole has to the occupation and the violence that is meted out on Palestinians.”...

...the strategic importance of the tactical clothing and accessories featured in the report shouldn’t be underestimated. Operation Israel...is dedicated to collecting funds to purchase and distribute tactical and medical gear to the IDF. The organization has delivered items including gloves, caps, jackets, bulletproof vests, boots, helmets, and Hagor-branded drone carrier backpacks to Israeli troops. Operation Israel is not alone in its efforts, especially since reports emerged that the IDF has been underequipped...

Garment workers-rights organizations and unions across the world, from the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles to Labour Behind the Label in the U.K. have expressed solidarity with Palestine. Now, with a more concrete picture of supply chain links, a collective response beyond statements can materialize...

That chronically underpaid workers, some of whom have spoken out against the violent occupation of Palestine, may be unknowingly or unwillingly producing goods used against the Palestinian people highlights the need to examine overarching and intersecting power structures. “Injustice is multiplied and normalised through our economic systems,” Ivanova said... It takes the will of those in power to allow military equipment to cross borders into Israel, to allow products made on illegally occupied land to enter international markets, and to allow companies in one country to profit off the underpaid labor of those in another...