July 17, 2026
After nearly two years of organizing
to pressure the federal government to impose a full two-way
arms embargo on Israel, the Arms Embargo Now coalition has
announced a major strategic escalation: a nationwide
campaign to force Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer,
Elbit Systems, out of Canada. On a live mass call last
night, over 500 people across Canada phoned key federal
ministers demanding that they Sanction Elbit, and committed
to take action to pressure their local Elbit supplier to cut
ties.
The new ‘Elbit Out of Canada’ campaign aims
to systematically dismantle Elbit’s Canadian operations and
supply chain by pressuring Canadian companies, institutions,
and governments to sever all ties with the Israeli arms
giant.
Elbit Systems is the industrial arm of
Israel’s genocide in Palestine. It provides 80 percent of
the weapons and equipment for Israel’s land forces and 85
percent of the combat drones used by their air force, and
has thus been essential to enabling Israel’s war crimes in
Gaza, Lebanon, and beyond.
While years of organizing
and mass public pressure have pushed the government to
concede that Canada shouldn’t arm Israel, to pause
approving new arms export permits, and to suspend dozens of
existing ones – prohibitions that the federal government
just last month confirmed remain in place – weapons
components continue to flow between Canada and
Israel.
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“If the federal government refuses to
fully stop the flow of arms to Israel, communities across
the country are prepared to interrupt that flow themselves.
And we’re starting with every factory across the country
that sends parts to Elbit’s factories in Israel” said
campaign organizers.
Exposing the Local Corporate
Infrastructure Fuelling the Violence
The campaign
comes as new research continues to identify
Canadian companies supplying components and technology to
Elbit Systems factories in Israel, despite repeated
government assurances that military exports have been
curtailed. These suppliers span nearly every Canadian
province, directly connecting Canadian communities to the
production of weapons used by the Israeli
military.
Recent shipping records show that local
Canadian factories are sending essential parts directly to
Elbit’s weapons-making facilities in Israel. For example, TTM
Technologies in Scarborough, Ontario, ships electronic
components that are built directly into Israeli fighter jets
and precision-guided missile systems. Other local
manufacturers have also sent shipments to Elbit factories in
Israel within the last couple weeks, including Pratt &
Whitney in Longueuil, Quebec, and Amphenol Canada Corp in
Markham, Ontario.
Taking an Arms Embargo Into Our Own
Hands
To disrupt this supply chain, the campaign is
pursuing a two-pronged strategy. Organizers are renewing
calls on the federal government to immediately sanction
Elbit Systems and implement a comprehensive two-way arms
embargo. Sanctions on Elbit would block anyone in Canada
from doing business with Elbit or its subsidiaries: no trade
with Elbit, no supplying parts to or receiving parts from
Elbit, and no financial services to, support of, or
investments in Elbit.
Simultaneously, grassroots
groups across Canada have committed to “adopt” local
suppliers, utilizing public education, shareholder pressure,
and direct engagement to make continued business with Elbit
politically and reputationally untenable.
This
decentralized approach is modeled on previous grassroots
victories. In August 2025, public outcry successfully
pressured Ottawa-based Calian GNSS to halt its GPS antenna
shipments to Elbit. The Calian case exposed a critical
loophole: the antennas were classified as “dual-use”
technology thus bypassing standard military export permit
requirements entirely, but the case proved that direct
community-level pressure can halt shipments where government
regulations fail.
Joining a Wave of Global Divestment
and Coordination
The Canadian launch builds on
growing momentum against Elbit Systems. Recently, Scotiabank
completely divested
from Elbit Systems after sustained public organizing, having
previously been the company’s largest foreign shareholder.
This joins a wave of global divestments and contract
cancellations by Barclays, Norway’s largest pension fund,
and Japan’s Itochu Corporation.
The campaign also
announced a coordinated National Day of Action on August 13,
during which communities across Canada will visit and
publicly identify local suppliers connected to Elbit Systems
as part of a nationwide escalation to “Put Elbit On
Notice”. The Arms Embargo Now campaign is urging Canadians
to immediately contact federal officials demanding sanctions
against Elbit Systems while joining local organizing efforts
to pressure suppliers in their own communities by visiting
armsembargonow.ca/elbitout.
