Spain scraps deal on bullet sales with Israeli company after outcry

Spain has cancelled a multi-million dollar deal to buy bullets from an Israeli company after a member of the ruling coalition said it was a "blatant violation" of a ban on trading arms with the country.

Spain's interior ministry had sought to negotiate a termination of the 6.8m euro ($7.8m) contract with Israeli firm IMI Systems to have supplied bullets to the Spanish Civil Guard.

But following outcry from its left-wing coaliton partner Sumar who called it a "blatant violation" of a ban imposed after 7 October 2023, the Socialist-led government unilaterally ended the deal, saying negotiations had failed.

According to AFP after "exhausting all paths of negotiation", the offices of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Sumar's Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz and "the competent ministries have decided to cancel unilaterally the ammunition purchase contract with Israeli company IMI Systems", the government sources said.

"The investment board for dual-use material will deny this company permission to import this equipment to our country for reasons of general interest and, immediately afterwards, the interior ministry will terminate the contract," the sources added.

The interior ministry had said the state legal services advised against scrapping the deal "due to the advanced stage of the processing of the contract" and because it would have had to pay without receiving the bullets.