Conflicts of interest and Czech political support for Israeli arms manufacturer

ANO, the Institute for Politics and Society, L.P.P. Holding a.s. and Elbit Systems

On the 5th of February of 2024, the Institute for Politics and Society (hereinafter IPS) is a think tank of the ANO movement, the populist party forming the current Czech government (from 2025) together with the right-wing populist parties Motoristé sobě and SPD. On February 5th, 2024, the Institute organized the Czech-Israeli Forum which was focused on supporting technological development and innovation. Its declared goal was “to support technological exchange and the exchange of expertise between the Czech Republic and Israel.” ¹

The event was attended by Karel Havlíček, former and current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, Israeli Ambassador Anna Azari, Miroslav Žižka, Executive Director of LPP Holding a.s. (hereafter LPP), State Security Advisor Tomáš Pojar, Omer Frank, Marketing and Business Development Director at Elbit Systems Ltd., and others. The full list of attendees is available in the event materials and the linked YouTube recording of the event. ²

The connection between the Institute for Politics and Society and ANO

Due to IPS’s connection to ANO, the think tank functions as its political institution. ³ It was founded in 2014 and its leadership includes figures associated with ANO, such as the aforementioned Karel Havlíček who serves as the Vice-Chairman of the IPS Board of Directors.

The organization serves as a platform for development of the ideological foundation and political strategy for ANO’s policies and, as Andrej Babiš stated, aims to “define the problems of [the Czech Republic]” since he claims he “[doesn’t] remember anyone having defined the Czech national interests since the [Velvet] Revolution”.

The Czech-Israeli Forum organized by IPS together with LPP Holding and Elbit Systems can thus be seen as an acknowledgment of the ties between the companies and ANO. Their logos appeared on most of the promotional material and organizers made no effort to hide these links. ¹

Inconsistencies in party lines or political games obscuring cross-party support?

What has however raised questions was the inconsistency in ANO’s approach to LPP during the conflict between former Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (2021-2025, SPOLU coalition) and ANO leader Andrej Babiš. Babiš highlighted a possible conflict of interest regarding the purchase of the Supacat army vehicles from LPP without a public tender and hinted at ties between LPP and members of the given government. Černochová argued that the agreement on the purchase took place in 2021, still under Babiš’s government. ⁴

These events may be revealing potential inconsistency and lack of transparency within ANO, it is however possible that the party leader simply aimed at shifting the focus away from its, and, his own conflicts of interest. Or from the fact that personal ties between the military industry and political subjects exist above party affiliation.

Havlíček, state subsidies for LPP Holding, and relationships deeper than just one forum

This case of government support for LPP is not isolated. The fact that Karel Havlíček appeared as a speaker at the IPS forum is significant because his Ministry of Trade and Industry previously decided on several subsidies for LPP Holding, for example in 2020 and 2021. ^{5 6}

This points to a possible conflict of interest between ANO’s policies and private companies operating in military technology, concealed behind rhetoric about “innovation,” “technological development,” and the “startup nation” mentality. The Czech-Israeli Forum then exemplifies how political parties indirectly legitimize the agenda of Israeli arms manufacturers.

Currently, the company is drawing subsidies from the same ministry, granted under a government led by the SPOLU coalition, for developing AI-controlled military drones. ⁷ This project received 11.062 million CZK in public subsidies from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, demonstrating support for LPP by multiple governments. ⁸

Another conference demonstrating the LPP-ANO cooperation took place in the Míčovna of Prague Castle in March 2026. ⁹ While Karel Havlíček again appeared as a speaker in two parts of the program, one of the moderators was Martina Tauberová, who is not only Vice President for International Relations and Unmanned Systems at the Association of the Aerospace Industry, but also Director of External Relations at LPP Holding. ¹⁰

Ties to Russia compromise the integrity of both manufacturers

While drone warfare has become a decisive factor in Russia’s war on Ukraine, the arms manufacturers in question give no guarantee that their technologies are used exclusively for Ukraine’s defense. Leading figures of LPP have both a documented history of ties to Russian business ¹¹ and connection to Israeli arms industry, in particular through their cooperation with Elbit Systems Ltd.. Interestingly enough, investigations have on top of that uncovered Elbit’s own recent history of trade with Russia amounting to hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

These findings stand in clear contradiction to the widely promoted narrative of the above-mentioned companies’ solidarity with Ukraine, similarly as LPP’s recent scandal related to supplies of overpriced military equipment. ¹²

In conclusion, connections between high-level politics and Israeli-linked arms manufacturers are not isolated and are not limited to ANO representatives. Moreover, the links to Russia further raise serious concerns about the integrity of both LPP and Elbit Systems and reminds us that all of military industry worldwide directly profits from armed conflicts. In fact, even the option of simultaneously supporting both warring sides in order to secure long-term monetary gains cannot be ruled out.