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In late August 2026, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported Finland’s Ministry of Defence had signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel in 2024 extending bilateral cooperation on defense materiel through 2034. The agreement covers research, development, and procurement of military products and establishes a joint coordination group scheduled to meet at least annually. However, unlike the extension signed in 2019, which was brought to the Foreign Ministry’s attention, this reassessment did not happen in 2024.
News of the memorandum came just days after Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio announced that Finland’s multi-year funding agreement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWA) would expire without renewal, ending €5 million in annual direct support that had run since 2023.
Diving into the Memorandum
The underlying framework dates to 2013 and had previously been renewed in five-year increments. Finland proposed the extension in early 2024, as the prior version approached expiration. Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen approved a ten-year term.
Häkkänen told Yle that the arrangement reflects standard practice between states engaged in defense trade, noting that Finland maintains cooperation documents with approximately 40 countries and that Israel has been among them for years. He said the memorandum supports implementation of existing air-defense and procurement projects.
Yle reported that the 2024 renewal was not referred to the Foreign Ministry in the manner the 2019 renewal had been.
The Defense of the Future: Finnish Variation
Finland’s defense relationship with Israel centers on the David’s Sling air-defense system. The government of then-Prime Minister Sanna Marin approved the purchase for more than €300 million shortly before the outbreak of the Gaza war in 2023, making Finland the system’s first foreign customer. The system is expected to enter service in the late 2020s.
Finnish Defence Forces commander Janne Jaakkola told Yle that Finland selects systems based on military capability, cost, and suitability, and that David’s Sling performed best during the procurement process.
Finland joined NATO in April 2023 and shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia. An Israeli Defense Ministry representative described Finland to the Jerusalem Post as Israel’s gateway to NATO and European markets.
Finnish defense manufacturer Patria has integrated Rafael’s Trophy active protection system into its AMV XP 8x8 armored vehicle and equipped other armored vehicles with Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles. Yle reported that over 20 projects involving the Finnish military and Israeli defense companies are currently underway, with details undisclosed. A Finnish-Israeli defense seminar convened in Helsinki in May 2026, following a similar event in 2022.
Redirecting Aid Flow to the Right Place(s)
Tavio, of the Finns Party, said Finland is following the approach taken by Sweden, which ended direct UNRWA funding in December 2024, and cited criticism of the agency’s lack of neutrality and the degree of its separation from Hamas.
Tavio said support for Palestinians will continue at the same level through other channels, naming the World Food Programme and identifying the UN Palestine reconstruction fund as a possible route. Finland has previously channeled humanitarian assistance through the WFP, the International Committee of the Red Cross, OCHA, and Finn Church Aid.
Tavio told MTV Uutiset that the government is not unanimous on the question but that the decision falls within the development minister’s authority. Norway signed a new two-year agreement with UNRWA in January 2026, and Denmark accelerated payments to the agency during its liquidity shortfall.
Finland previously suspended UNRWA payments in January 2024 after Israel alleged that 12 agency employees participated in the October 7, 2023 attacks, then resumed funding in March 2024 after allocating 10 percent of its contribution to risk management.
U.S. Government Shuts it Down
The USAID Office of Inspector General, a statutorily independent oversight entity, announced on June 5, 2026 that it had referred 101 current or former UNRWA staff to the State Department for suspension or debarment consideration based on participation in the October 7 attacks and/or affiliation with Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades and PIJAll . Counting prior referrals, the cumulative total reached over 108 subjects.
Those referred included school principals, teachers, security personnel, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals. The Inspector General identified cases including a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander and a school principal assigned to a Hamas military manufacturing unit’s chemical department whose school contained three anti-tank positions and a tunnel shaft.
On August 26, 2026, the office reported that the State Department had proposed debarment for three former UNRWA teachers, one alleged to have conducted kidnapping operations on October 7 and one alleged to have held civilian hostages. The investigation has produced one completed government-wide debarment, of former UNRWA school principal Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa. Additional referrals and potential criminal referrals to the Justice Department are expected.