Annex Views received from Governments in accordance with paragraph 5 (a) of General Assembly resolution 63/69

Israel [Original: English] [22 December 2009] 1. Israel welcomes the continuing operation of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and the efforts made by the United Nations and States Members of the Register to make this significant measure of confidence, trust and security-building as relevant and universal as possible, taking into account national, regional and global security concerns. 2. Convinced by the importance of adherence to the Register and its specific contribution to regional and global stability and security, Israel has responded annually to the Register — since its foundation in 1992 — on seven of its categories related to major conventional arms. Israel has a policy in reporting conventional arms, and reports relevant military equipment transfers that depart from, or arrive to, its territory. 3. Israel believes that the number one priority remains to convince States to adhere to the Register and to consolidate the existing United Nations Register through outreach to States in regions of tension — such as the Middle East. In our view, the Register should remain simple, focused and relevant towards the aim it tries to achieve, namely, the confidence and security-building measures that will promote transparency and demonstrate peaceful intentions, the establishment of good-neighbourly relations, and the avoidance of an unnecessary arms race. 4. Israel supports multilateral and bilateral initiatives to eradicate the illicit trafficking and proliferation of conventional weapons in all its forms. Israel faces daily attacks by terrorist organizations that intentionally target its civilian population and civilian objectives, including its civil aviation. 5. We urge States Members of the United Nations Register to focus such preventive measures on combating international and regional terrorism that thrives upon the illicit trade and trafficking of Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS), short-range rockets and improvised explosive devices. In this regard, it is imperative to take steps to prevent illicit trafficking of the launching systems as well as the munitions and the critical ingredients for the construction of such explosives.

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6. In relation to arms control that supplements the efforts of the Register, Israel participates in a constructive manner in international negotiations on the enlargement of the Convention on Conventional Weapons to address humanitarian problems caused by the indiscriminate and irresponsible use of certain conventional weapons, such as anti-personnel mines, blinding lasers, anti-vehicle landmines, explosive remnants of war and other munitions, including cluster munitions. Israel, as a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, also maintains its unilateral moratorium on the sale, export and transfer of any anti-personnel mines (currently in effect until July 2011, renewed every three years). 7. Furthermore, Israel specifically views the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, in all its aspects, and their misuse as an imminent threat to security and stability. These phenomena affect and harm civilian population and societies, and impede development and post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation. In this regard, Israel took part in the negotiations of the Working Group under the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and follows the operational guidelines of the International Instrument adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 8 December 2005 to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (see decision 60/519). 8. In 2008, Israel adopted new legislation governing defence export controls. Among other changes to existing legislation, the new Defence Export Control Act adopted the Wassenaar Arrangement control list, which upgrades and formalizes the consultation process between relative authorities: the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. The legislation further strengthened enforcement mechanisms. Israel’s competent authorities continue to outreach to the defence industries in order to disseminate knowledge of the relevant regulations of the aforementioned new legislation. In addition to the legislative developments, a new Defence Export Control Division has been established within the Ministry of Defence and a new Defence Export Control Department has been established within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that consolidates and strengthens the existing export control units. 9. Pursuant to its comprehensive export control system and legislation, Israel also closely controls transfers of arms, military technology and dual use items. In view of the specific threat, Israel decided to follow the principles of the Wassenaar Arrangement and closely control MANPADS in all its aspects (adopted by the Wassenaar Arrangement plenary in December 2003). 10. Furthermore, Israel’s conventional arms transfers policy places several major restrictions and prohibitions on arms transfers, including on small arms and light weapons and its munitions. These controls begin by approving or denying marketing and/or exporting licences. Other restrictions include constraints related to compliance with arms control treaties and regimes to which Israel is committed, and constraints on exports to certain end-users, while carefully complying with United Nations Security Council arms embargoes. Furthermore, the export control system prohibits certain exports, such as exports to countries where a serious risk exists that such arms would fall into the hands of terrorist organizations or their supporters.

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11. Israel’s strategic position in the region, combined with the lack of reciprocity in military transparency and openness from our neighbouring countries, makes it very difficult for Israel to support the enlargement of the Register to apply to military holdings and procurement through national production. Even more so, it is premature for Israel, at this stage, to support any advanced military transparency, such as the adjustments to the existing seven categories of the Register to include power projection capabilities and force multipliers or information on transfers of military technology. 12. Accordingly, the linkage made by some States and States Parties to the Register between the transparency in conventional and non-conventional armaments seems to be counterproductive owing to the fact that weapons of mass destruction are already dealt with in other arms control treaties (e.g., Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Chemical Weapons Convention, Biological Weapons Convention), where the conventional arms transparency has not yet reached universality, especially in the Middle East. 13. Israel supports the gradual exchange of information on military affairs. Such exchange of information must start with regional participation, on an annual basis, in the present United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and then evolve, based on real improvement in the security environment, into a more advanced transparency concept, as appropriate and necessary, in the framework of confidence-building measures in the region. 14. Advanced transparency that would encompass military holdings and domestic production capabilities, or force projection and multipliers, as well as advanced military technology, can prove to be stabilizing forces only if they are established as part of regional security and arms control regimes that are mutually verified and based on the respected principles of reciprocity and comprehensiveness, and normalization of political-military relations.