In the first half of 2025, Serbia exported ammunition worth approximately €55.5 million to Israel, surpassing the total exports for the entire previous year, which stood at a record €47.9 million, according to research by BIRN and Haaretz. The data, obtained from an inspection of customs records, coincides with 16 Israeli flights from Belgrade to the Nevatim air base, identified via live flight tracking websites.
Besides the state-owned company Jugoimport SDPR, five private Serbian firms have also exported ammunition and weapons to Israel over the past two years. Among them, “Edepro” and “Romax Trade” exported ammunition this year to two prominent Israeli security companies serving clients that include the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). One such company, IMI Systems, is owned by Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers, which was named in a June 30 UN special rapporteur report as profiting from what was described as genocide in the West Bank and Gaza.
Serbian authorities have refused to release official data on arms exports to Israel, denying requests filed by BIRN in March 2024 and July 2025, citing the information as “strictly confidential.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told the Jerusalem Post on June 6 that Serbia is the only European country exporting ammunition to Israel. However, by June 23, when questioned about Serbia’s stance in the Israeli-Iranian conflict amid ongoing exports, Vučić stated that Serbia had halted all arms and ammunition exports, declaring a moratorium.
Despite this, BIRN reported that on the same day as Vučić’s moratorium announcement, an Israeli Boeing 747 cargo plane landed at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport and flew the next day to Nevatim air base, according to Flightradar24 data. When asked about the plane, Vučić declined to comment, saying, “It doesn’t occur to me to say what took off and what landed.”
