Israel's Defense Ministry Suspends Export Licenses of Company Heads Selling Drones to Azerbaijan

The Israeli Defense Ministry has today suspended the export licenses of three executives from an aeronautics company.

According to the Times of Israel, the company in question is Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd., which is suspected of having tested "suicide drones" against the Armenian armed forces in 2017 at the request of its client Azerbaijan, in violation of Israeli law. Details of the investigation are being kept confidential by judicial order. The company has informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange about this decision, as it will not be able to present its products abroad until the judicial process is concluded.

The Ministry of Defense later stated that the company’s CEO Amos Matthan and his deputy Meir Rizmovich have temporarily lost their licenses, while the name of a third employee has not been disclosed.

According to the complaint against the company, in July 2017, when presenting the drone to Azerbaijan, the Israeli company was asked to conduct testing against the positions of Armenian forces. In August 2017, it became known that the company was suspected of using a suicide drone against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.