Antony Loewenstein, investigative journalist “From the early inception of the state, Israel built its economy around the research, manufacture, and export of high-end arms, selling them to some of the most reprehensible regimes in the world. These included the CIA backed Contras in Nicaragua, the Guatemalan genocide of indigenous Mayans, Myanmar's ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya, as well as South Africa's apartheid regime, which Israeli leaders in the 70s collaborated with and were inspired by. In some cases, Israel would sell weapons to a government on behalf of the United States when its ally didn't want to be seen publicly backing it. These military relationships helped prop up Israel as a diplomatic power, allowing it to evade criticism for its treatment of Palestinians and, more significantly, allowing it to use its occupied territories and its citizens in them as test subjects for its weapons and cybersecurity innovations.”