Iron Construction

Iron Construction and Critical Infrastructures in Israel

On Dec 7th, 2021, the Gaza border wall, labeled the “Iron Wall,” finished construction. Taking three and a half years, 140,000 tonnes of iron and steel, and $1.1bn dollars, it effectively transformed the Gaza Strip into the largest open-air prison in the world. Gaza citizens live under a state of constant observation - the border wall has a sensor system underground to detect any burrowing, radar systems, command and control rooms, and a remote-controlled weapons system, allowing the military to respond to any attempts to break through. Israel’s economy is driven by this kind of construction; high technology, including military, communications, and weapons technology, makes up 80% of its industrial sector, which is, in turn, the largest sector of the economy. This border wall is a perfect collaboration of all those sectors - and for this reason, was hailed as a “technological project of the first order” by Israel’s defense minister. Many people worldwide were critical of the project: even far-right newspaper The Times of Israel pointed out that it did nothing to stop the actual perceived threat of terrorism or political violence, merely delaying the inevitable. The reason Israel engages in these projects, even if they’re relatively ineffective, is because they’re essential to the success of both Israel’s economy and its existence as a nation. 

Magal Security Solutions, the company responsible for the construction of the “Iron Wall,” described the project as “critical infrastructure,” on their website, a terminology that has been used by settler states to justify profitable yet extremely violent projects in America and Canada. Settler states will define certain projects as “critical,” claiming that they are essential to national security. What’s important to recognize here is that the wall is not essential to national security, it is only labeled as such to justify its existence. If settler states fail to engage in a constant process of elimination, it’s an admission that they’re not the legitimate owners of the land. The Iron Wall is a both physical representation of and a facilitator of this process of elimination - it aims to contain, surveil, and, as we’ve seen in the horrific events that have occurred since October 7th, eventually aid in the elimination of the native population. Projects like the Iron Wall are essential to the existence of the Israeli state because they reinforce + continue that logic of elimination; without them, the state would have no ideological ground to stand on. It is in that sense that the Iron Dome becomes labeled as “critical”: it is essential to the ideological existence of Israel.

The Iron Dome, another Israeli infrastructure/defense project, shows another aspect of the Israeli political economy. It was constructed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a private company funded in large part by the state, and cost an estimated $1.5bn. When asked why the defense system was constructed in 2016, Didi Ya’ari, Rafael’s CEO, said, “[the purpose of the Iron Dome is to keep] people going to work, keep harbors working, keep cars and trains running. We have conditions that could be considered absolute war, and this allows things to keep running.” The irony here is that even though they’re explicitly stating that the purpose of the Iron Dome is to keep the economy running during wartime, it still veils the truth that what, at least partly, makes the Israeli economy run is the constant state of war it exists in. This is emphasized by how many refer to the Iron Dome as “infrastructure”; the mere idea that a missile defense system is infrastructure acknowledges an expectation of constant warfare.

 Because of Israel’s lack of natural resources, they import all of the materials necessary to build these technologies and projects. So, to make a profit, they are forced to create products that have a high added value. To continually profit off added value, constant innovation, and experimentation are needed, so they need a testing ground to use all of their military technologies. Additionally, a big part of an added-value economy is permanence. People can only profit off of added-value products if they’re allowed to sit, be experimented on, and develop into something more valuable over time; it’s a long-term investment. In this, the political economy of Israel mirrors the logic of settler colonialism. It is in investors’ (specifically, the US’s, which is the biggest investor in Israel in the world) interest to have Israel remain since there won’t be a return on investment otherwise. The logic of settler colonialism tells us that Israel aims to be permanent and will constantly try to eliminate the native Palestinians, and the political economy of Israel relies on notions of permanence and uses the elimination of Palestinians to profit. In this, we can see how, intrinsically, profit, the elimination of Palestinians, and the existence of the Israeli state are linked. The specific nature of the political economy of Israel also contributes to this: they specifically work very heavily in surveillance and security technology. Because of this, it is in Israel’s interest to be engaged in a conflict with an occupied population, as it allows them to experiment with not only their military technologies when war breaks out but also to always be experimenting with their communications and surveillance technologies. What makes the Israeli case so awful is how they’ve managed to exploit the resistance to the system of settler colonialism - violence in Palestine always proceeds profit. Northrup Gunman, Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin stock are all up since October 7th.