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Israel Begins Shift to Domestic Ammunition Production
Israel’s new laser-based interceptor. Photo: Israeli Ministry of Defense
JNS.org – In the wake of the ongoing war against Hamas and its exposure of Israel’s near total dependence on the United States to replenish its stocks of ammunition, Israel has begun shifting toward greater domestic ammunition production.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has begun reaching out to local defense companies to boost production lines and place orders that will ensure they churn out ammunition for years to come, as a top priority.
The ministry saw domestic production as a priority even before the war, but the issue has now risen to the top of the national agenda.
“The lesson from the war in Ukraine and against Hamas is identical: Israel must significantly increase the arsenal with which it enters the campaign,” a former defense official told JNS.
This includes a variety of arms, ranging from Iron Dome interceptors to sophisticated guided air-to-ground munitions and artillery shells. Tank shells could also be a candidate for domestic production.
Yet not everything can be moved to Israel. Military aircraft will continue to be made in the United States.
The cost of producing aircraft for a single military without exporting them to additional clients would make their production a financial non-starter for Israeli defense industries. Nor would the U.S. agree for Israel to begin competing with it in the global fighter aircraft market, as the 1980s Lavi jet project, which shut down for these reasons, demonstrated.
On Jan. 25, ministry director general Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir concluded a working visit to Washington, D.C., where he met with senior U.S. Department of Defense and State Department leadership, as well as with Lockheed Martin and Boeing executives.
Those two companies produce the Israeli Air Force’s growing fleet—F-35s, CH53 transport helicopters, Apache helicopters and F-15s. Israel is reportedly attempting to fast-track some of those deliveries, particularly the Apaches.
“The visit underscored the close cooperation between Israel and the United States since the beginning of the ongoing Swords of Iron war,” the ministry said in a statement at the time. “Maj. Gen. (res.) Zamir engaged in discussions with his American counterparts about armament procurement, aligning with preparations for evolving combat scenarios. The discussions also focused on plans for force build-up in the upcoming multi-year strategy, including the acquisition of advanced platforms and capabilities to maintain the IDF’s qualitative military edge and readiness for diverse scenarios. This approach integrates lessons learned from the war into strategies for obtaining military equipment,” it stated.
Nevertheless, it has become painfully clear that Israel’s dependence on American ammunition supplies, which saw more than 200 cargo planes touch down Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, has become a danger to national security and independence.
This dependence means that any Israeli Cabinet must consider the principle of “legitimacy” in its warfare planning—a principle that could become paralyzing if leverage over Israel becomes too great.
Should that principle trickle down into operational decision-making, the result can only harm Israel’s war efforts.
IDF combat officers should be thinking purely about how to accomplish missions, while of course adhering to the IDF’s own internal ethical code and upholding its own internal commitment to adhering to the laws of armed conflict. But if concerns over “legitimacy” in the eyes of a foreign government, no matter how close an ally, creep in, due to ammunition reliance, that is a serious problem.
Furthermore, Israel’s current lack of independent mass ammunition production has meant that the IDF needs to weigh its uses of resources carefully in Gaza, when looking at multi-arena threats in the north and at Iran, both of which could become involved in full-scale wars at any time.
Such precaution means that the IDF has been running an “armament economy” regarding certain munitions.
Both the air force and the ground forces must take the prospects of additional fronts catching fire into account.
All of this means that mass domestic ammunition production is a must-have for Israel going forward, and there are encouraging signs that this is in fact what is developing.
This will also create very real economic burdens in the future; American ammunition was bought with U.S. aid money.
For Israel to create and fund new production lines among its defense industries, it will also need to ensure that society can manage this burden by having as many economically productive citizens in the work force as possible.
The post Israel Begins Shift to Domestic Ammunition Production first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.