It was not hidden that it existed on the part of Spain. But that ‘small print’ has already been invoked in 2025. As published This Monday, the exceptional clause for the blockade of weapons and military technology of Hebrew State companies has been activated after the warning from the aeronautical firm Airbus that, if applicable, applying it would result in the loss of multimillion-dollar defense contracts and thousands of jobs that depend on these.
This is the mechanism of exceptionality that includes the . Specifically, it has been used to guarantee the viability of four programs which are developed largely in the plants of San Pablo (Seville) and Getafe (Madrid). They are the ones in charge of A400M military cargo transport planethe plane A330 MRTT in-flight refuelingthe plane maritime surveillance and patrol C295in addition to the SIRTAP tactical drone.
All of them are projects consisting of support aircraft or aircraft intended for security and intelligence missions -taking into account the versatility of what an unmanned aerial vehicle can end up doing-. However, it also affects the integration of the Israeli Dircm protection system in the A400M that are assembled for the German Army, as well as nine destined for the international fleet coordinated by NATO and as many Canadian tanker aircraft. The Dircm is an improvement, carried out by the technology of the Israeli company Elbit Systems, for the detection and interception of laser-guided anti-aircraft missiles, that is, a modern aerial countermeasures system.
Defense objected, Presidency took it to the Council of Ministers before Christmas Eve
As stated in the aforementioned newspaper, referring to government sources, when this warning reached the table of the Ministry of Defense what he found was the rejection of activation of the exceptionality clause. Everything changed when favorable report of the interministerial board which is in charge of managing the trade in military material – the JIMDDU – came into the hands of Presidency. Thus, the Airbus claim was taken to the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the past 23 this December, one day before Christmas Eve.
He main argument This happens because if it were not activated in these cases it would have “an industrial, economic, employment and technological impact of such caliber that it would affect strategic autonomy and general national interests.” Precisely, that of ‘general national interest’ is one of the pillars that allow the activation of the exceptionality mechanism. The reason is the potential possibility that all these aircraft cannot be assembled in Spain, taking into account that they are also committed to other countries.
Does that mean that there is no longer an embargo on Israeli weapons? No, the activation of this mechanism does not include the rest of the programs that were affected seriously because of the sanctions and the ban. That happens through the AGOanti-tank missiles Spike or the Dragon vehicle. The first corresponds to a long-range missile launcher system, while the second was a batch of 1,680 Spike LR2 for the destruction of armored vehicles or tanks. As for the ‘dragon’, it is an 8×8 all-terrain vehicle that was going to have different Israeli technological implementations, in terms of armor, electronic systems or even fire capacity.
What did the Government say about the exceptionality clause to the Israeli arms embargo?
The Minister of Economy himself, Carlos Bodyhad already referred to this exceptionality clause when he detailed the content and measures contained in the aforementioned Decree 10/2025. “There is the possibility that the Council of Ministers authorizes a specific exception, exceptionally and affecting national interests“, indicated at the end of September the head of Spanish economic policy.
According to Corps, this clause could only be activated “in concrete and specific cases When we talk about elements of general interest, the foreign trade regulations on defense and dual-use materials refer to this. element of general interestreferring for example to concepts associated with national security and foreign policy“.
