In Arizona, more than 100 Jewish and Palestinian solidarity activists held a die-in protest blocking the main entrance of Raytheon’s office in Tucson for over an hour Wednesday. Protesters condemned what they say is Raytheon’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians for supplying missiles, bombs and weapons systems to Israel. Share prices of arms manufacturers including Raytheon have risen sharply since Israel began its assault on the Gaza Strip. Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes acknowledged in a recent earnings call his company stands to profit from increased arms sales to Israel and Ukraine.
Gregory Hayes: “As we think about this next tranche, the president’s $100-plus billion request, which is more than $40 billion for Ukraine, what you’re going to see is the same things that we have been seeing, but in much higher quantities. I think, really, across the entire Raytheon portfolio, you’re going to see a benefit of this restocking, on top of what we think is going to be an increase in the DOD top line.”