Military, cybersecurity, surveillance, drone and artificial intelligence companies linked to the occupation, apartheid and genocide in Palestine are gaining access to the European market and benefiting from subsidies.
This report traces the routes by which the Israeli surveillance sector enters Europe, in a context marked by the genocide in Palestine and European rearmament. The research shows how these companies use subsidiaries, acquisitions, name changes, opaque corporate structures, international trade fairs, research programmes and public funding to establish themselves within the European market. It also analyses the role of Germany, Luxembourg and Cyprus as strategic gateways, and devotes a specific section to Barcelona as a technology and cybersecurity hub.
Far from being a passive actor, Europe is a key player in the expansion of this business ecosystem: it facilitates contracts, alliances, subsidies and spaces of legitimation for companies that develop technologies tested on, or linked to, the control, surveillance and violence directed against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli defence tech sector, which brings together military, cybersecurity, surveillance, drone and artificial intelligence companies, has grown sharply since October 2023, with the genocide in Palestine. This ecosystem has been driven by the escalation of Israeli violence, which has turned Palestinian territory into a laboratory and “showcase” for Israeli military and technological products, as well as a business opportunity for financial capital.
However, the war economy has also accelerated the move abroad of Israeli companies. Difficulties in raising capital in Israel, growing reluctance among foreign investors, flight cancellations, industrial disruption and the mobilisation of reservists have pushed many companies to look for new places from which to operate. Since the start of the genocide, one in five Israeli tech companies has relocated part of its operations outside the country, and 8,300 skilled workers in the high-tech sector emigrated between October 2023 and July 2024.
In this context, the European Union has emerged as a strategic destination for maintaining business activity, accessing funding and operating within the European single market. It offers Israeli companies the chance to take part in public tenders and R&D contracts, and to present themselves as players integrated into the European technology ecosystem. In 2024, 54% of the export contracts signed by Israel’s military industry were with European countries, worth approximately $8 billion.
Corporate engineering that finds open doors in Germany, Luxembourg and Cyprus
The research identifies several routes by which these companies enter the European continent. One is the use of corporate engineering, such as rebranding or changing names to conceal links with the parent company, as well as buying and setting up European companies to channel sales of Israeli material within the EU and, potentially, circumvent export controls.
This engineering is complemented by the ease with which companies can access the European market through three countries that facilitate entry. The research highlights Germany as the epicentre of the Israeli military lobby in Europe, as it concentrates contracts, arms exports and influence structures that work to strengthen military, cybersecurity and intelligence cooperation between Israel and Europe.
Cyprus, meanwhile, serves as a landing platform for Israeli tech companies, offering geographical proximity to Israel, direct flights, logistical ease, access to the EU market, European residency for founders and workers, free movement of capital, favourable taxation and swift company registration procedures. The report also warns that Cyprus encourages the creation of opaque corporate structures, particularly in the field of cyber-surveillance.
Luxembourg, for its part, offers a business launchpad thanks to a flexible corporate framework, technological infrastructure, economic stability and specialisation in cybersecurity. In this way, Luxembourg makes it possible to set up corporate structures, holding companies and subsidiaries that facilitate access to the European market.
The report identifies some twenty Israeli defence tech companies that have established themselves in the European market over the last two years. Among them are Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems, XTEND Defense, NextVision and Cyberbit. One of the paradigmatic cases is that of NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware. This Israeli company, notorious in Catalonia because of the Catalan Gate case, has been widely denounced by human rights organisations around the world for developing and selling espionage technology that is impossible to control.
The report provides an overview of NSO Group’s growth in recent years, a growth and an upgrading of its products closely linked to the genocide in the Gaza Strip, despite the many scandals and criminal cases the company has accumulated in different jurisdictions. These include a conviction in the proceedings brought by WhatsApp. The research highlights the trajectory of NSO Group as a company closely tied to the Israeli government and used as a diplomatic tool.
Rearmament, securitisation and dual-use products
The current context of European rearmament, the war in Ukraine, increased military spending driven by NATO and the security narrative is creating a market especially favourable to companies linked to the Israeli military and security ecosystem. These companies gain access to public contracts, research programmes, business alliances and international trade fairs, often presenting themselves as civilian technology innovators.
The report warns that this business penetration is taking place amid weak public oversight, regulatory fragmentation and a lack of effective human rights due diligence mechanisms. It also cautions that many of these technologies are dual-use products that can be employed in military contexts as well as in border control, mass surveillance, police repression or the persecution of social protest. The lack of an effective regulatory framework within the EU to oversee the development or export of surveillance products allows these companies to operate with minimal and insufficient control, which has fuelled their rapid proliferation.
Europe plays an active role
The research points to Europe’s active role: it is not simply a receiving market but a key player that facilitates this expansion through cooperation agreements, funding, direct contracting of companies, trade fairs and inadequate regulatory frameworks.
A large share of European funding for military and security matters directed to Israel is channelled through technology institutes and universities, which makes it possible to mask corporate military links as scientific cooperation. As a result, manufacturers of weapons or cybersecurity technology such as Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries are benefiting from European public subsidies. This issue is currently under debate in the European Parliament following the publication of several scandals that confirm the permissive framework that has made this possible without any kind of control.
The research warns that the European legal framework allows companies to produce and sell outside the EU technological systems that European regulations themselves consider to pose an unacceptable risk.
In Spain, the report notes that in 2025 the Ministry of the Interior renewed its collaboration with Cellebrite, a company that, according to the research, gathered data from the phones of thousands of Palestinians who were captured and abducted.
Barcelona as a technology and cybersecurity hub
The report devotes a specific section to Barcelona, identified as an emerging cybersecurity hub and a landing point for Israeli companies or those linked to its technology ecosystem. The hosting of international congresses, the attraction of foreign investment and the existence of technological infrastructure have made the city a strategic platform for these companies.
In the city, the role of Fira de Barcelona stands out, as it repeatedly hosts companies involved in the genocide against the Palestinian people.
The organisations behind the report say it is urgent to review institutional, commercial and financial relations with the Israeli military and security sector, and to exclude from public procurement and European funding programmes any companies implicated in serious human rights violations. They also call for stronger controls on dual-use technologies, a ban on the development and sale of spyware, transparency requirements for opaque corporate structures, and a comprehensive arms and dual-use technology embargo on Israel.