Afrasianet - The Wall Street Journal published a report by Benoit Foucault in which he said that U.S. companies have profited a lot from Israel's war on Gaza. He said the war has generated billions of dollars for these companies.

The two-year war may be nearing its end, but it has opened up an unprecedented and still open artery of U.S. armaments, sparking business for defense companies such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Caterpillar.

U.S. arms sales to Israel have skyrocketed since October 2023, with Washington approving more than $32 billion in arms, ammunition, and other equipment for the Israeli military during that period, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis based on revelations and disclosures by the U.S. State Department.

The war in Gaza has opened up an unprecedented array of U.S. armaments for Israel, resulting in business operations for defense companies such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Caterpillar.

Israel responded to the Hamas attack on October 7 with a devastating war that killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, including more than 18,000 children, devastated the Gaza Strip and increased hatred of Israel in the region.

Still, the fighting in Gaza presented an important opportunity for U.S. defense manufacturing companies and, to a lesser extent, for U.S. tech giants on the U.S. West Coast.

The U.S. tax payer bears the bulk of Israel's armament bill, typically receiving $3.3 billion in foreign military funding annually, a figure that more than doubled last year to $6.8 billion, and these figures do not include non-monetary aid.

The evolution of the current truce into a lasting peace will not stop U.S. support, as arms contracts are usually planned years in advance, and Israel will remain at war with regional adversaries such as Iran and armed groups in Yemen, Lebanon and elsewhere.

The newspaper says that the American company that has received the most Israeli deals since the start of the Gaza war is Boeing. Last year, the United States approved an $18.8 billion sale of Boeing F-15 fighter jets to Israel, with deliveries expected to begin in 2029.

This year, various partnerships were signed, in which Boeing plays an important role, including the approval of sales of guided bombs and related equipment worth $7.9 billion. This far exceeds the $10 billion Israel pledged to buy from Boeing in 2018 over the next decade, and will account for a large portion of the company's current $74 billion orders.

Among the companies that benefited from the arms sales licenses were Northrop Grumman, which provides spare parts for fighter jets, and Lockheed Martin, a supplier of high-energy and precision missiles. and General Dynamics, a supplier of 120mm shells fired by Israeli Merkava tanks.

The largest arms deals approved by Washington are for fighter jets and air-guided bombs, reflecting the crucial role of aerial bombardment in the conflict.

The largest arms deals Washington has approved are for fighter jets and air-guided bombs, reflecting the crucial role of aerial bombing in the conflict. Contracts for ground operations, bulldozers, tank shells, troop transport vehicles and tanks, represent much smaller quantities.

Israel's Eitan armored vehicles, which have been widely used throughout Gaza, are equipped with a chassis from Wisconsin-based Oshkosh and an engine made by the U.S. unit of Rolls-Royce in Michigan.

Caterpillar has benefited from the war, using its D-9 armored bulldozers to clear rubble and destroy homes and other structures everywhere in the Strip. None of the companies responded to the newspaper's request for comment, with a State Department spokesperson stressing that "the Trump administration continues to support Israel's right to defend itself and is now leading a regional effort to end this war."

In some cases, the companies faced backlash from investors and employees over their sales to the Israeli military. Last year, three Norwegian investment funds sold their stakes in Oshkosh, Palantir Technologies, Caterpillar and ThyssenKrab because their products were used in the Gaza war. On Oct. 1, the Dutch pension fund, the Netherlands' largest, for more than $400 billion under its management, sold its €387 million, or $448 million, stake in Caterpillar over concerns about Gaza.

In August, Germany announced that it would not approve the export of weapons to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip until further notice.

In September, Microsoft blocked the Israeli Defense Ministry's access to some cloud services in response to employee protests.

Before the war began, Microsoft, in partnership with Alphabet-owned Google and Amazon, struck deals with Israel to provide the military with artificial intelligence and cloud computing services. Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence giant Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, a Trump ally, entered into a partnership with Israel's Defense Ministry in January 2024. At a conference in May 2025, Palantir CEO Alex Karp responded to one protester's accusations that Israel was using Palantir's technology to kill Palestinians, saying that the dead were "mostly terrorists." The company's 2024 annual report indicates that its current operations related to Israel do not affect its financial results.

In response to questions from the newspaper, a Palantir spokesperson referred to an earlier statement that the company was "proud to support Israel's defense and national security missions" and "has a long-standing commitment to upholding human rights," while Amazon, Google, and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.

Lockheed Martin said it benefited from increased U.S. defense funding related to Israel and Ukraine, and revenue from its missile division rose to $12.7 billion.

In addition, U.S. companies have found business opportunities to capitalize on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In June, the U.S. State Department said it had allocated $30 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, led by former Trump adviser Johnny Moore, to oversee aid distribution. The organization hired U.S. contractors, SafeReach Solutions and UG Solutions, to provide security for the distribution efforts, which were characterized by chaos and violence.

In its latest annual report, Lockheed Martin said it had benefited from increased U.S. defense funding related to Israel and Ukraine, particularly ammunition purchases. Revenue from its rocket division rose 13% last year to $12.7 billion. Oshkosh said an Israeli request for tactical vehicles extended the life of the production line it wanted to shut down last year.

In its latest quarterly report, Italian contracting company Leonardo, whose U.S. unit sells tanker trailers to Israel, said its international sales are expected to remain stable this year due to "ongoing conflicts in both Ukraine and Israel."

For Boeing, which has suffered two years of supply disruptions and strikes, international arms sales have been a rare bright spot. In its 2024 earnings report, the company said its defense subsidiary received a boost from "strong demand as governments prioritize security, defense technology and global cooperation amid evolving threats."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues its support for Israel. It is seeking congressional approval to sell nearly $6 billion worth of weapons to Israel, including a $3.8 billion deal to buy Apache helicopters from Boeing, which would double Israel's existing fleet of aircraft.