Why is Israel Seeking ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Locally-Made Assault Rifles?

The Israeli Defense Ministry has announced plans to buy “tens of thousands” of assault rifles from local businesses as part of a “requirement to renew” the military’s stockpile of weapons. The goal is to replace the rifles worn out in the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing conflict against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. These include, among others, the M16 and Tavor TAR-21 rifles.

As for the weapons to be purchased, they are expected to be assault rifles from the AR-15 family, similar to the M4 carbine, which are due to be manufactured by the Israeli companies EMTAN Karmiel and Israel Weapon Industries.

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Revamping domestic manufacturing is how Israel is trying to ensure that its supply of particularly light weapons remains uninterrupted, Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, said in an interview with Sputnik.

"Israel has itself had a very robust arms manufacturing industry, which has not been expansive and extensive enough to address the needs of the Jewish state at a time of prolonged conflict. And what we might be witnessing is an apparent depletion of stocks, particularly of light weaponry. And so, any country, particularly in moments of war, tries to revamp its own military-industrial complex. Israel is no exception," Kamrava stressed.

He recalled that Israel has historically relied on the United States to provide its weaponry and that all arms sales in America are subject to congressional approval. Israel does not want to go through that process although it had robust support in the US, Kamrava added.

In this vein, the pundit singled out the US Republican Party’s opposition to Washington’s continued military support for Ukraine and the fact that the Biden administration "has at times had a rather difficult job getting its weapons request for Ukraine through the Congress."

Kamrava also touched upon the lessons Israel could learn from the Ukraine-US "military cooperation," especially in light of a recent statement by retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, the chairman and founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum.

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Avivi pointed out that the Israeli defense leadership had admitted the importance of reducing its dependence on external weapon sources in the face of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on the Jewish state and the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

Kamrava, for his part, said the fact remains that "Republicans in the US Congress have pushed back against, and were able to delay (but not block) military funding for Ukraine."

"Also, while a close friend of Israel, [former US President] Donald Trump is too unpredictable in his foreign policy. This [a decision to buy the Israeli-made assault rifles] is also a precautionary measure in case Trump gets elected again," the expert concluded, referring to the November 5 US presidential election.

Israel's Push to Buy Locally-Made Rifles: 'Precautionary Step if Trump Wins'