Siemens AG

Siemens AG is one of Europe’s largest manufacturing companies, operating in the engineering, electronics, industrial manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare sectors.

Siemens entered the Israeli market in the 1960s and significantly increased its presence there in the 1990s. In 1998, the company established an international procurement office in Israel, to increase sourcing for Siemens’ global operations from Israeli companies.

Over the decades, Siemens acquired or invested in multiple Israeli energy and high-tech companies and projects, including Ornet, Solel Solar, Alvarion, Radvision, and others. In 2023, responding to allegations that Siemens had engaged in a boycott of Israel, the company stated: “We have been active in Israel for around 60 years in various business areas and are deeply rooted there.”

Israeli Occupation

Siemens Mobility provides cars for the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train line, which illegally cuts through the occupied Palestinian territory. The train tracks are partially built on privately-owned Palestinian land in two locations in the occupied West Bank, “for an Israeli transportation project aimed exclusively for Israelis,” according to Who Profits.

This 2017 contract between Siemens and state-owned Israel Railways initially included the provision of 330 electric railway cars and maintenance, plus the establishment of a maintenance and repair depot in Israel, for a total of some $1 billion. It was later expanded to 834 cars, and Israel has the option to buy more and to extend the contract until 2046, according to Siemens’ statement to Who Profits.

One of Siemens’ suppliers for this project is Extal, an Israeli company located in Mishor Adumim, one of Israel’s illegal settlement industrial zones in the occupied West Bank. Siemens contracted Extal to provide aluminum parts worth $4 million. This included Siemens support for technological enhancements at Extal’s illegal settlement factory. The Israeli Ministry of Economy initiated the relationship between the two companies in 2019, to help Siemens fulfill its obligation to invest 20% of the railway contract back in the Israeli economy through reciprocal procurement.

In the past, Siemens provided traffic control systems to Israeli roads, including multiple roads in and leading to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as documented by Who Profits. In 2022, Siemens sold this division, Intelligent Traffic Systems, which now operates as Yunex Traffic, a subsidiary of Italian infrastructure firm Mundys.

Israeli Military and Prison Service

The Israeli military and arms industry use Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) software to optimize their weapon production lines. The Israeli military uses Siemens’ flagship PLM software Teamcenter, its computer-aided design (CAD) software Solid Edge, and FLOEFD, a Siemens CAD add-on that simulates fluid flow and heat transfer. The company designs these products specifically for military applications.

Siemens licenses these software in Israel through McKit Systems, a subsidiary of Israeli defense-tech firm Malam Team. Since 2013, McKit has listed among its clients the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) and all major Israeli weapons manufacturers: Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and RAFAEL. In 2012, McKit sponsored an Israeli military technology conference, where it introduced Siemens’ PLM software to hundreds of Israeli military officers and soldiers. The conference included representatives from Siemens.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) acquired or renewed licenses for Siemens software in multiple contracts totaling at least $1 million between November 2023 and June 2024, during the Gaza genocide. Some of these contracts specify that they are for Teamcenter, Solid Edge, or FLOEFD licenses. Some are for “modifications and enhancements for Siemens software,” without naming the specific product. These contracts were listed in an IMOD database that discloses only recent and unclassified contracts that were issued without a public tender process. Therefore, they represent only part of the full extent of IMOD procurement of Siemens products.

Separately, Israeli prisons also use Siemens products. The Israel Prison Service has contracted Israeli company Orad multiple times for the provision and maintenance of Siemens fire detection and extinguishing systems. In 2004, Orad also provided a Siemens perimeter security system to the Gilboa prison, which is designated for Palestinian political prisoners, as reported by Who Profits in the past.

Connecting Israel’s Power Grid to Europe

Siemens is a leading contractor for the Great Sea Interconnector, formerly known as the EuroAsia Interconnector. Partially funded by the European Union (EU), this underwater “electric highway” is designed to connect Europe to the Israeli power grid. Siemens was selected as the “preferred contractor for constructing the converter stations” along the connector.

The Interconnector is bidirectional, so it would allow Israel to export energy to the EU as well as to “consume power from Europe during emergencies,” according to the Israeli Ministry of Energy. Given the structure of the Israeli power grid, this would deliver EU-generated electricity to the entire area under Israel’s control, including Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international humanitarian law and EU guidelines.