On November 13, one of the Israeli news portals published information about the impact of the ongoing war with Hamas on arms production in Israel.
The website calcalistech.com reported, for example, that many defense industry employees were drafted into military service as reservists. The examples of Ematan (approx. 40% of reservist employees called up for service) and Israel Weapon Industries (approx. 20% of employees), both producing small arms and their accessories, were given. In place of those who went to war, new workers are employed, almost “from the street”, and often those for whom there would be no place in the factory halls in the pre-war reality, such as retirees.
Not only employees employed directly in production joined the army, but this also applies to engineering staff responsible for supervising production or working on new projects (and anyone who did not wear a uniform had a good chance of replacing employees employed in assembly). Thus, many of the projects currently under development have been suspended due to the lack of suitably qualified staff. This made it possible to maintain and even increase production. The example described concerns, of course, the production of small arms, but it is so interesting that since the outbreak of the war, almost as many applications for weapons permits have been submitted to the Ministry of National Security (190,000) as in the previous nine months of the year (210,000). ), of which 31,000 permits have been issued so far (for comparison, in 2022, 42,000 applications were submitted and 13,000 permits were issued). This also causes the civilian small arms market to develop significantly. At the same time, exports virtually stopped. The company representatives quoted in the material argue that not all contractors are understanding and insist on fulfilling contracts within the stipulated time. Otherwise, Israeli producers will face contractual penalties. Unfortunately, it is not known to what extent a similar situation occurs in other branches of Israel’s defense industry, but it should be assumed that the need to meet the growing needs of the Israel Defense Forces and the announcement of mobilization concern most enterprises.
