Photograph by Kristin Bethge / Connected Archives
Words by Sophie Benson
Inside a factory in Vietnam, a worker stitches the final seams on a heavy-duty backpack. Months later and thousands of miles away, an Israeli soldier moves through Gaza as Palestinians return home to rubble, the same backpack strapped to his shoulders. The connection between these two moments is invisible to most. But a new investigation has begun to pull back the curtain on the supply chains that help sustain Israel’s military operations.
The report, shared exclusively with Atmos, exposes the scale of the global effort required to supply Israel’s brutal military assault in the West Bank and Gaza, the mechanisms of which constitute genocide or are consistent with genocide, according to conclusions drawn by the likes of Amnesty International, the United Nations Special Committee, Human Rights Watch, and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.
Commissioned by the Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s largest alliance of labor unions and NGOs, the report outlines how military apparel and accessories manufacturers across India, Vietnam, and Türkiye are linked to companies in Israel allegedly supplying the Israel Defense Forces.
The answer to where Israel’s essential military gear actually comes from is far from forthcoming.
Research carried out by The Counter, an arm of the nonprofit Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, has begun to untangle how tactical vests, helmets, and other battlefield gear move across borders—often with little transparency. Using customs data to track shipments of military apparel and accessories (to which a unique customs code is attached) into Israel, the findings raise pressing questions about the true extent of global involvement in outfitting the IDF.
The Counter’s first search using the customs code, which limited the data range from October 2023 to May 2024, produced a total of 44 shipments from various American states, including Florida, New York, Louisiana, and Ohio. Suppliers and purchasers, however, were unknown, illustrating just how opaque global supply chains are and the difficulties of tracing sensitive shipments.
The second search was more fruitful. Using the names of 15 companies identified in preliminary research as possible IDF suppliers (14 by CCC, one by The Counter), researchers were able to draw links between seven of the Israeli companies and nine suppliers across India, Vietnam, and Türkiye in the 12 months to June 2024. These included Akiro Protech, Viraj Syntex, Star Aerospace, Sundaram Industries, and Kwik Patch in India; MK Vina, Light to Summit Vina, and Outdoorpark Vina in Vietnam; and Garanti Kompozit in Türkiye.
The scope of the research was limited only to suppliers who have a direct relationship with the buyer. Unaccounted for in the research, therefore, is the extended supply chain of those who grew or extracted fibres, processed and produced certain textiles, or manufactured various parts such as zips or buttons. In other words: This is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Israeli companies Polaris Solutions, Masada Armour, Hagor, Marom Dolphin, Agilite, and Source Tactical Gear are among those that have received shipments including backpacks, helmets and helmet cover pads, ceramic plates (used in bulletproof vests, per The Counter), tactical vests, belts, woven fabrics, and coated textiles, according to the report. Israeli army web shop Kasda is reported as selling items from some of the aforementioned suppliers.
“In these horrific instances of violence, more than one industry is complicit, more than one industry is benefitting.”
The evidence isn’t always hidden. Social media posts show soldiers reportedly in Gaza wearing gear branded with the Marom Dolphin logo. Polaris Solutions, founded by two former IDF soldiers, does not explicitly state it supplies the IDF; however, the Instagram account linked to its website features several posts in which IDF soldiers appear to wear its products, with hashtags such as “IDF” and “IDF Israel.” Agilite’s website states its tools are “forged on Israeli battlefields” and its Instagram account shows its gear being worn by soldiers with Israeli and United States patches.
None of the brands, except Masada Armour, responded to requests for comment from Atmos regarding supplier links, specific shipments, and allegations of supplying the IDF. It’s also worth noting that, in the report, The Counter acknowledges a possibility that the goods listed in the report were transferred to another party before reaching their final destination, cautioning that it is “in theory, possible that the important companies re-exported the products.”
A representative from Masada Armour said via email the business is “an Israeli company that manufactures products for the IDF and other Israeli defense agencies and also supplies its goods to customers worldwide. Masada Armour is a proud leading supplier to the IDF and defense agencies in Israel and around the world.” The company rep characterized Masada Armour’s shipments in the report—helmets and a ceramic plate—as “examples only for research and development purposes, and not for sale at all.”
The various suppliers’ publicly available profiles in India, Vietnam, and Türkiye are consistent with either the products described in the report or relationships with the Israeli companies they are alleged to have supplied. A screen capture taken by The Counter shows Marom Dolphin listed as one of Kwik Patch’s partners on its website; this has since been removed. Light to Summit Vina lists Agilite as a client on its YouTube page.
None of the companies responded to Atmos’ requests for comment regarding the shipments, recipients, and prior knowledge of who the end user of their products was.
Direct anti-war action has historically focused on the arms trade. Gaza war protestors over the last 18 months continued that tradition by occupying, blocking, and shutting down ports, production facilities, and company headquarters to stop the flow of military equipment such as weapons, drones, and jet fuel into Israel.
“The genocidal war machine relies on lots of different components to fuel it,” said “Ali,” a representative for Workers in Palestine, a collective of over 30 Palestinian trade unions calling to end complicity and stop arming Israel. As he is based in Palestine, and for fear of retribution by the Israeli army, Ali requested the use of a pseudonym.
“Some are obvious targets because they’re used to bomb Palestinians,” Ali continued. “But they’re not always the easiest to trace because they may come in containers, go through complex supply chains, and pass through many countries. So we’re looking for different choke points in the supply chain.” With the release of this new research, the Clean Clothes Campaign hopes to bring to light how the textile industry is facilitating Israel’s aggression.
“In these horrific instances of violence, more than one industry is complicit, more than one industry is benefitting,” said Alena Ivanova, campaigns and activism lead at Labour Behind the Label, a nonprofit organization based in the United Kingdom that’s a member of the Clean Clothes Campaign, which campaigns for garment workers’ rights. “We wanted to know what links the [textile] industry as a whole has to the occupation and the violence that is meted out on Palestinians.”
“Knowing where garments and accessories for the IDF are made is crucial for effective collective action. This would allow activists, particularly those from the BDS [boycott, divest, sanction] movement, to correctly identify the companies involved and target them in campaigns.”
Though the impact of weapons is more tangible to the global observer, the strategic importance of the tactical clothing and accessories featured in the report shouldn’t be underestimated. Operation Israel, a nonprofit formed in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, is dedicated to collecting funds to purchase and distribute tactical and medical gear to the IDF. The organization has delivered items including gloves, caps, jackets, bulletproof vests, boots, helmets, and Hagor-branded drone carrier backpacks to Israeli troops. Operation Israel is not alone in its efforts, especially since reports emerged that the IDF has been underequipped.
“Knowing where garments and accessories for the IDF are made is crucial for effective collective action,” said Walton Pantland, director of organizing and campaigns at IndustriALL Global Union, which affiliates with many textile unions. “This would allow activists, particularly those from the BDS [boycott, divest, sanction] movement, to correctly identify the companies involved and target them in campaigns.”
Though the union is aware that military uniforms are manufactured in the countries in question, Pantland said it is not aware of any companies or factories producing for the IDF.
Pantland’s sentiment is shared by campaign group Anti-Sweatshop Activists Against Apartheid, which stressed that information is a crucial catalyst for a collective response. “Highlighting how factories across the world can contribute to apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide shows how robust and interconnected systems of oppression can be, and thus how robust our collective action must be in response,” the group said in a statement sent to Atmos.
If we know where IDF equipment is being made, why don’t protestors simply demand workers stop making the items in question?
Garment workers are among the most vulnerable in the textile supply chain, and across the industry they are often subjected to low pay, harassment, and violence should they speak up in protest. It is therefore unrealistic and unjust to expect the buck to stop with them. And because the modern supply chain alienates workers from the end use of what they create, many are likely unaware of their complicity.
The starting point, according to the campaigners and activists Atmos spoke to, is awareness.
Garment workers-rights organizations and unions across the world, from the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles to Labour Behind the Label in the U.K. have expressed solidarity with Palestine. Now, with a more concrete picture of supply chain links, a collective response beyond statements can materialize. This could take many forms, according to Ali, whether flyering workers to distribute the report’s findings, calling for suppliers not to renew contracts, or calling on governments to embargo military shipments to Israel. (India, Vietnam, and Turkey have all maintained or bolstered trade links with Israel despite criticizing the regime or appearing to support a ceasefire on the global stage.) “Work on Palestine could start to take more of a practical, impactful shape,” he said.
“We need a reformulation of the entire structure. Instead of racial exclusion, [it must be] based on democracy, equality, human rights and the self determination of the Palestinian people.”
While Labour Behind the Label’s Ivanova stresses that the pace should be set by workers, Anti-Sweatshop Activists Against Apartheid calls out the opportunity for citizen involvement, particularly as textiles is a sector many people feel an affinity with. “In building movements to resist such powerful, oppressive forces, everyone’s knowledge, skill, and experience is valuable,” the group said. “Within our own campaign group, our collective knowledge of textile and garment production and contacts in the industry have made for a focused, effective campaign, while also bringing people into a conversation on Palestine, who might not have otherwise been involved.”
Aseem Jouda, a second-year engineering student from Gaza, said he wants people to continue their struggle for Palestinians even “in a fashion way.” “[This is about] educating people about what is happening here in Gaza,” he said, “and revealing the truth about the occupation and the ugliness of its crimes against the Palestinian people.”
That chronically underpaid workers, some of whom have spoken out against the violent occupation of Palestine, may be unknowingly or unwillingly producing goods used against the Palestinian people highlights the need to examine overarching and intersecting power structures. “Injustice is multiplied and normalised through our economic systems,” Ivanova said. “This is not about isolating blame in specific locations, but about understanding the systemic nature of this violence.” It takes the will of those in power to allow military equipment to cross borders into Israel, to allow products made on illegally occupied land to enter international markets, and to allow companies in one country to profit off the underpaid labor of those in another.
In the tentative early days of a ceasefire, the threat may feel less immediate to those on the outside looking in. But Jouda wants to “make people all over the world aware that this is Palestinian land, that it is an occupation, and that [there is a] necessity [to] the occupation ending.”
Violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank escalated sharply in recent weeks with armed settlers attacking Palestinian villages, killing and injuring residents while setting homes and vehicles ablaze. Human rights groups have documented increasing instances of IDF soldiers standing by during settler attacks—or even participating in them. Alongside calls from President Donald Trump to “clean out” Gaza and statements that Palestinians will have no right of return under his plan, it’s clear that Israel’s military threat has not retreated; it’s simply changed shape. “At this juncture,” Ali said, “as Israel begins to turn its efforts toward the West Bank, it’s more important than ever to renew our efforts to make sure that they do not have the materials and impunity they need to carry [ethnic cleansing] out.”
As such, activists call for more nuanced thinking, and an extended effort. “This [research] is part of an initial approach to what will become longer term thinking,” said Ivanova. “It’s about rebuilding links between workers across the world. It’s not something that can be cut short because there’s been a ceasefire.”
For all the progress the Clean Clothes Campaign’s report has achieved in unveiling the often murky connections between manufacturers and Israel’s war machine, there is more work to be done. The indeterminate supply chain links between manufacturers in different American states and the IDF is just one example of why that is. “[We need] a reformulation of the entire structure,” Ali said. “Instead of racial exclusion, [it must be] based on democracy, equality, human rights and the self determination of the Palestinian people. That requires any possible target that people can find in order to put pressure on Israel.”
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New Report Sheds Light on Global Involvement in Outfitting Israel’s Military
