Israeli defence company Elbit 'suspended from Nato tenders' amid corruption probe

Man linked to weapons company subject to international arrest warrant

A multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets made by Elbit Systems. Reuters

Israeli defence company Elbit has been suspended by Nato from bidding for new tenders amid a wide-ranging corruption investigation, documents obtained by French, Dutch and Belgian media show.

Defence companies are alleged to have paid millions of euros to help secure contracts. Elbit, Israel's biggest defence company, is thought to have sold at least €50 million ($58.2 million) in ammunition to Nato allies over the past decade. It has also provided services for amounts that have not been disclosed.

This decision may disrupt the supply of several Nato armies. “Affected contracts include ammunition for truck-mounted howitzers, mobile rocket artillery systems, and defence systems for military aircraft and helicopters,” wrote the investigative website Follow the Money, which reported on the suspension alongside La Lettre and the Belgian newspapers Le Soir and Knack.

“Elbit also equipped the fleet of Airbus MRTT [Multi Role Tanker Transport] tanker aircraft of eight Nato countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, a huge programme awarded in 2023 worth tens of millions of dollars,” wrote La Lettre.

'Serious allegations'

A letter dated July 31 and written by a manager at the alliance's Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) described “serious allegations” indicating “suppliers engaged in sanctionable practices, including irregularities in the award of contracts”.

Other companies besides Elbit could undergo the same process in the near future, the letter warned. The National has contacted Nato, the NSPA and Elbit for comment.

Elbit has equipped the fleet of Airbus Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) tanker aircraft of eight Nato countries. AFP

Elbit is not under investigation. But in September a Belgian judge issued a European arrest warrant for a 60-year-old Italian consultant, Eliau Eluasvili, who is suspected of bribing NSPA staff. Mr Eluasvili is believed to play an important role as a consultant for Elbit, people close to the investigation have said. He may currently be travelling under a false identity.

The decision to suspend Elbit and its subsidiary, Orion Advanced Systems, comes against a backdrop of suspicions that former NSPA employees have used inside knowledge to secure lucrative contracts for defence companies in exchange for kickbacks. Investigations are continuing in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The NSPA plays a strategic role in securing contracts for Nato allies which have collectively increased their defence spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its budget has nearly tripled since 2021 to €9.5 billion yearly, according to Follow the Money.

Guy Moeraert, a former Belgian soldier and ex-NSPA agent turned consultant, is accused of having received €1.9 million in exchange for confidential documents that were then forwarded to companies to rig calls for tenders. He has served six months in prison and currently wears an electronic tag.

Moeraert is believed to have close links to Mr Eluasvili. They reportedly met via a Turkish former employee of NSPA, Ismail Terlemez, who was arrested at Zaventem Airport in Brussels in May but was released this summer.

Mr Terlemez had been awaiting extradition to the United States. The FBI suspected him of being involved in a corruption scheme of more than €1 million paid by an Italian defence company to secure a contract to sell TNT explosives to the US army in 2019 and 2020.

Launched in 2024, the US investigation triggered subsequent European investigations. Earlier this year, a dozen suspects, including five employees or ex-NSPA staff, were arrested in seven European countries, from the Netherlands to Spain.

However, the US investigation was abruptly halted in July, raising questions about political interference, according to the media behind the investigation. They have reported that the US dropped charges against Mr Terlemez two weeks after a meeting between the US President Donald Trump and his Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a meeting at the Nato summit in The Hague in July.