ALBAWABA - In response to the conflict in Gaza, an executive official from Itochu Corporation announced on Monday that the aviation unit of the Japanese trading company will halt its strategic collaboration with the Israeli company Beit Systems by the end of February.
Itochu Aviation, Beit Systems, and N.A.S signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation in March 2022.
Tetsuji Hachimura, the CFO of Itochu, stated that the company intends to end its collaboration with Beit Systems following the International Court of Justice's order last month for Israel to cease genocidal acts against Palestinians and increase efforts to assist civilians.
"The partnership was established at the request of the Japanese Ministry of Defense for importing defense equipment for the Self-Defense Forces, entirely unrelated to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine," explained Hachimura during a press conference to announce the company's financial results.
He added, "Considering the International Court of Justice's order issued on January 26, and the Japanese government's support for the court's role, we have already suspended any new activities under the memorandum of understanding and intend to terminate it by the end of February."
Itochu Corporation reported a 10.3% decrease in net profits from April to December. The company achieved a profit of 611.7 billion yen ($4.1 billion) for the nine months ending on December 31, compared to 682.2 billion yen in the same period the previous year.
The company maintained its full-year profit forecast until the end of March at 800 billion yen, slightly below the average expectations of 821 billion yen in a survey conducted by the London Stock Exchange involving nine analysts.
