Secret Trade: Serbia Hides Arms Exports to Israel after Hamas Attack

Despite Serbia’s Trade Ministry denying BIRN access to information on arms sales to Israel after the Hamas attack, BIRN has found out that two arms shipments took place over this period.

BIRN has found out that Serbia has made at least two major arms or ammunition shipments to Israel since the October 2023 Hamas attack, despite a veil of secrecy covering the deals.

Serbia’s Ministry for Trade denied BIRN’s Freedom of Information Act request about arms export to Israel from the period of October 2023 until February 26, 2024, calling the data “strictly confidential”.

“In regards with the asked information, we inform you that [it] carries markings of a certain degree of secrecy, in accordance with the Law on Data Secrecy,” the ministry responded.

“The aforementioned decision stipulates that the secret data of the ministry is ‘data of interest to the Republic of Serbia, i.e. data of interest for the work and performance of work under the jurisdiction of the ministry established by law’,” it added.

“That secret data means ‘information, documents, their reproductions, i.e. copies and materials containing classified information, regardless of the form or medium on which they are recorded or stored, as well as systems, devices, projects, plans, objects, assets, structures and businesses related to classified data.”

The ministry said delivering such data would also involve disclosing data considered a “business secret”.

Serbia’s Trade Ministry usually answers routine FOI requests on arms exports – information on the quantities, type of arms, and actors involved, such as traders and “end users” of the goods.

This was only the second time it had denied a BIRN FOI request on arms exports in years.

The first time was in October 2023, regarding ammunition for assault rifles produced in 2022 in the Serbian arms factory Belom, allegedly used by the Serbian armed group in the attack in Banjska, northern Kosovo, on September 24, which resulted in the killing of a Kosovo policeman.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Aleksandar Vucic (L). Jerusalem, Israel, 01 December 2014.EPA/BAZ RATNER/POOL

However, while the ministry labeled the information secret, BIRN has found out that at least two shipments of arms or ammunition to Israel took place since the October 2023 Hamas attack, worth over a million euros.

The information comes from the customs data of Checkpoint, a portal that collects the Serbian state’s trade information related to business entities.

From this, it can be seen that Serbia’s main state-owned arms trader, Yugoimport-SDPR, exported goods to Israel worth 540,120 euros in October and 510,000 euros in February.

The data does not show whether new export licenses were issued by the Serbian state for exports to Israel in this period.

The data does not show many such major exports to Israel before October. The state-owned ammunition production factory Prvi Partizan, in Uzice, western Serbia, exported around 780,000 euros worth of goods to Israel in March and April 2023.

Serbia and Israel are close allies. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone phone on February 26 on further closening ties.

“A good conversation with Israeli PM Netanyahu about further advancement of bilateral relations,” Vucic posted on Instagram. He said all major issues had been covered during the discussion and expressed the hope that both sides would benefit from it in the future.

Netanyahu for his part praised the Serbian leader’s “deeds”.

“I just had a fruitful phone conversation with President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia. Aleksandar is a true friend of Israel, and I expressed my gratitude for his unwavering support, both in word and deed,” the Israeli PM wrote on Twitter.

After Hamas militants surprise attack against Israel on October 7, killing over a thousand people, Israel launched a full-on attack on Gaza, killing 31,045 civilians, the majority of whom are children and women, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The International Court of Justice on 26 January agreed to consider a South African case that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and provisionally ordered it to allow the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has so far rejected a cease fire, also denying accusations of genocide.