2月17日、防衛省の行った小型攻撃用UAV（ドローン）Ⅰ型一般競争入札に、実証試験段階で有力候補と見られていたイスラエル国営軍需企業のIAI（イスラエル・エアロスペース・インダストリーズ）は参加せず、イスラエル製ドローンは採用されませんでした！
防衛省と市民団体との交渉で、防衛省が取得を前提に行う攻撃用ドローンの実証試験採用機のうち、7機中5機（のち9機中5機）がイスラエル製であると判明したのは、2024年２月のことでした。
中でも今年取得候補IAIとその代理店企業海外物産は実証試験の一般競争入札にわずか1円で入札するという、今回のドローン配備計画にあたって極端に前のめりな姿勢を示していた企業。
その海外物産とIAIが入札に参加すらしなかった具体的な経緯は不明であるとしても、この間市民が行ってきた粘り強い抗議が影響を与えたことはほぼ間違いがないでしょう。
2年間にわたり、オンライン抗議署名への賛同、拡散にご協力いただいた皆さんを含む市民の力によって、イスラエルからの初の攻撃用兵器取得という一線を越えた虐殺加担が回避されたのです！
とは言え、今年度には防衛省にとってもイスラエル軍需企業にとっても「本命」である小型攻撃用ドローンⅡ・Ⅲ型、来年度以降には多用途／攻撃用ドローンの入札が控えています。さらに、防衛省はイスラエルの軍事侵攻が本格化して以降だけでも既に240億円以上の非殺傷兵器をイスラエルから取得してしまっている状況です。
防衛省の虐殺加担と国際法違反への加担を止めるための抗議はまだ始まったばかりと言えます。
今回の部分的な成果を一区切りとして本オンライン抗議署名は終了しますが、いまだに虐殺加担を止めない防衛省と代理店企業（住商エアロシステム株式会社、日本エヤークラフトサプライ株式会社、川崎重工業株式会社）宛の新しい署名を準備しています。
引き続き、防衛省と代理店企業の虐殺加担を止めるため、全力を尽くしていきましょう！！
On February 17, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a state-owned defense contractor that had been considered a leading contender during the demonstration testing phase, did not participate in Japan's Ministry of Defense’s open competitive tender for Type I small attack UAVs (drones), thus no Israeli drones were selected!
It was in February 2024 that negotiations between the Ministry of Defense and civic groups revealed that 5 out of 7 (later 5 out of 9) of the attack drones selected for the Ministry’s demonstration tests—which were conducted with the intention of procurement—were Israeli made.
Notably, IAI and its import agent, Kaigai Corporation—which had been extremely eager toward this drone deployment initiative, having submitted a bid of merely 1 yen (around 63 cents) in the open competitive tender for the demonstration tests—were among the companies under consideration for acquisition this year.
While the specific reasons why Kaigai Corporation and IAI did not even participate in the tender remain unclear, there is little doubt that the persistent protests carried out by citizens during this period had an impact.
Over the course of two years, through the power of citizens—including everyone who joined and shared online petition signatures—we were able to prevent Japan from crossing the threshold into acquiring offensive weapons from Israel for the first time!
That said, tenders for the Small Attack Drones II and III—the “top priority” for both the Ministry of Defense and Israeli defense contractors this fiscal year in 2026—are coming, as are tenders for multi-purpose/attack drones expected to take place in the next fiscal year. Furthermore, since 2023 October 7th, the Ministry of Defense has already procured over 24 billion yen (150 million dollars) worth of non-lethal weapons from Israel. It can be said that the protests to stop the Ministry of Defense’s complicity in genocide and violations of international law have only just begun.
While this online petition campaign is concluding as a milestone following this partial success, we are preparing a new petition addressed to the Ministry of Defense and its agent companies (Sumitomo Corporation Aero Systems Co., Ltd., Japan Aircraft Supply Co., Ltd., and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.), which have not stopped their complicity in genocide.
Let’s continue to do our utmost to stop the Ministry of Defense and its agent companies from funding and being complicit in genocide!!