A worker for the French consul in Jerusalem went to court this past week facing allegations of smuggling arms across the border to sell to criminal gangs and rebel groups for profit. According to the charges, the consulate worker has smuggled over 70 guns using the less-heavily checked consular vehicles in order to sell them for a total profit of about $7500. These weapons, wrapped in nylon and shipped in packages containing as many as 20 guns at a time, were then sold/distributed to terrorists, Palestinian groups, and assorted local gangs. This is a clear example of exploiting violent regional tensions, here being the tense relations between Israel and Palestine, for financial gain.
This ties to American war-profiteering, specifically in the Iraq war and by politicians or others able to use their position to aid and abet such amoral financial practices. One such example of this is the storm of accusations against Halliburton and then-CEO Dick Cheney, who didn't vocally support the war until after becoming chief of the fuel-distribution company and while he claims he severed economic ties during his service, the man still received as much as $150,000 a year from the company, which allegedly jacked up fuel prices before signing lucrative government contracts. Although that scandal is quickly becoming a thing of the past, war profiteering is not and remains an issue that really needs to be addressed especially in this modern re-evaluation of gun laws as the arms industry continues to benefit from conflict, both domestic and abroad
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-consulate-worker-accused-of-smuggling-weapons-for-hamas/2018/03/19/8418b0ee-2b59-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html?utm_term=.1a3ca4e6e3af
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