The European Union is considering funding Israeli military contractor Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for two new research contracts, both of which have passed the evaluation stage in the request for proposals (RFP).
A second Israeli firm under consideration for similar funding is the Afcon company, which won the contract for installing the security system in the Jerusalem light rail project. Afcon also supplies metal detectors at the Erez crossing with Gaza and other security checkpoints throughout Israel.
The multi-annual research program under which the RFP was issued is allocated a total of 53 billion euros ($65.4 billion) for the 2007-2013 period.
Some 500 million euros of that sum is expected to go to Israeli firms, according to an irate David Cronin writing for IPS News, who described IAI as a “leading Israeli supplier of warplanes used to kill and maim civilians in Gaza.” Cronin wrote that the Jerusalem light rail project was “designed to connect illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with the city center.”
According to the Globes business news service, since 2007 Israel has won some 290 million euros in grant funding from the European Union's research program. The European Commission, executive arm of the EU, confirmed that at present there are 34 Israeli firms and research institutes collaborating in 26 EU-funded information technology projects.