Philippines conditioning arms deals with Israel on South China Sea recognition: report

The Philippines has conditioned continued arms contracts with Israel on Tel Aviv formally recognising its claim over the South China Sea - an area over which it is in dispute with China.

Israeli business news website Calcalist reported on Tuesday that the Philippine defence ministry has suspended new contracts with Israeli arms firms for several months over the matter.

Israel, which has in past years signed billions of dollars in arms deals with the Philippines, has remained neutral in Manila's spat with Beijing; however, now risks losing contracts over the dispute.

"The Philippines is trying to force Israel to take sides," Calcalist quoted a senior defence official as saying. "They want us to recognise their sovereignty in the South China Sea, just as Israel recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Without such a declaration, they’ve made it clear they won’t sign new arms deals," the official added, referring to Tel Aviv's controversial 2020 normalisation deal with Rabat.

The partnership between Israel and the Philippines has seen Manila purchase Rafael's SPYDER air defence system, Elbit Systems' ARMOS howitzers and UAVs and warships from Israel Shipyards. Elbit described Manila in a statement as a "relevant customer".

While the signing of new contracts has been effectively suspended, existing agreements between the two states remain in place.

Israel's defence ministry has reportedly petitioned its counterpart in Manila, with little success.

China has made expansive claims over the South China Sea - a territory where states including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei have competing claims.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled that there was no legal basis for Beijing's claims.