Primitive indigenous weapons in Colombia. These weapons, spears, knives, bows and arrows, and blow guns are the most ancient of weapons. I took these photos at a museum at a university museum in Medellin, Columbia.

We looked at the Jewish perspective on nuclear warfare and the use of nuclear bombs. The next area is whether or not it is permissible for Jews to sell weapons to non-Jews. Could Israel sell weapons to the US? And when Israel gave weapons to Iran during the Gulf War to help Iran fight Iraq, was this in accordance with Jewish law?

The Talmud in Avodah Zara speaks about whether it is permissible to sell the gentiles anything that can be used as a weapon. One rabbi goes as far to say that even bars of iron should not be sold to them because they can hammer it into a weapon.  The Rabbis there conclude that it is okay to sell to the Persians who at the time protected the Jews.

There is a mishnah that states further that one should not sell them (the gentiles) bears, lions, or anything that may hurt the public.  This mishnah appears to be speaking about the general public and not just the Jewish public.  Which means as a Jew we are concerned for all of humanity. We should not sell weapons to, say, a tribe in Africa that they could then use against a different tribe even though this would not affect us directly.

In the previous post I mentioned how it is okay for non-Jews to wage war on each other if they want; however ,Jews may not supply them with weapons unless one group is the protector of Israel.

Thus, it is probably okay for Israel to sell weapons to countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. These are countries that side with Israel (at least most of the time) and protect her.