Investing in weapons companies

שו”ת › Category: Halacha › Investing in weapons companies

asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask about investing in weapons companies and military industries, is there a halakhic or moral problem with this. The way I understand it, on the one hand, these weapons can be used for good purposes such as mechanizing the battlefield and replacing human roles with robots, and perhaps also reducing the duration of fighting and the number of victims in military conflicts by increasing the lethality of the weapons. On the other hand, it feels to me as if there is an aspect of harming the settlement of the world by developing destructive tools, when instead one could invest in medical or technological industries and thereby contribute to society.
I estimate that from an economic perspective, this has a strong economic advantage because I estimate that in the long term, nationalism in the world will strengthen and lead to larger defense budgets, and already today we are seeing a return of nationalism in Britain, the US, and even France and Germany.
What do you think?

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מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago

peace. As a rule, investment considerations are not charitable considerations but commercial considerations. When you want to donate, donate to whomever you wish to visit. But investments are made to make a profit. Of course, if there is a prohibition on the matter, then one should avoid it. Specifically, I don’t think there is any reason to invest in companies that deal in weapons, unless you have knowledge that they are using them improperly. Especially if it involves investing an amount that, in any case, won’t really change the picture (for the era of big money). Although the categorical order says that a consideration must be made that we would like to see as general. Therefore, the amount of the amount is just another consideration as a branch of the permit.

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אורן replied 8 years ago

What do you mean by the words “improper use”? They may also sell weapons to people who are enemies of the Jewish people, or just corrupt people. From the companies' perspective, what matters is that the customer pays, not what their moral standards are or what they intend to do with the weapon.

אורן replied 8 years ago

Maybe I forgot to mention it, but I meant foreign arms companies (perhaps you thought I meant Israeli companies that are careful not to sell to elements hostile to Israel).

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

Improper use is also genocide or other corruption (criminal organizations and cartels). As a rule, there are restrictions of international law, although it is clear that this is not fully enforceable. But if there is no clear information, it is impossible to prohibit investment in such a sale just because it is suspicious.