Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. The company is one of the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment and a major supplier to the U.S. military, with operations directly enabling Israeli military actions and illegal settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli Military Partnership

Since the 1960s, Caterpillar has been a supplier for the Israeli military, supplying heavy engineering machinery including the D9 armored bulldozers, excavators, and mini loaders. Through its exclusive Israeli distributor, Zoko Enterprises, this equipment is retrofitted for combat, including gunner positions, bulletproof cabins, and unmanned systems.

The D9 bulldozers, nicknamed "Doobi" by Israeli Occupational Forces, have been central to military operations across occupied Palestinian territories. During the ongoing 2023-2024 genocide in Gaza, D9 bulldozers led ground forces and were used extensively for large-scale demolitions. The Israeli Ministry of Defense placed accelerated orders for additional bulldozers from Caterpillar in November 2023, with 100 additional D9 bulldozers delivered by January 2024.

Autonomous Weapons

Caterpillar's "Panda" robotic bulldozer, based on Caterpillar's D9T model, was deployed for the first time during the 2023 Gaza genocide. This 50-ton autonomous weapon demolished buildings and provided weapon system support while being remotely controlled.

Gaza Operations and War Crimes

Caterpillar D9 bulldozers are a primary instruments of systematic destruction across Gaza during multiple Israeli military operations since 2008. During the current genocide, these bulldozers destroyed the Gaza courthouse, Palestine Square in Gaza City, and participated in the raid on al-Shifa Hospital while patients and medical staff were present.

In February 2024, Caterpillar machinery built "Highway 749," a military road slicing across northern Gaza to permanently cut off Gaza City from the north. The bulldozers draged the corpses of murdered Palestinians, including Mohammed Ali al-Naim in 2020.

Home Demolitions and Settlement Construction

Caterpillar bulldozers systematically erase Palestinian homes and infrastructure throughout the West Bank. In 2021 alone, Caterpillar bulldozers destroyed roads, water pipes serving 15 families in South Hebron Hills, and numerous Palestinian agricultural structures.

These same machines build illegal settlements like Revava, Oranit, Carmel, and Beitar Illit, along with settlement infrastructure projects including the Ariel West industrial zone and settler-only bypass roads that require uprooting hundreds of Palestinian olive trees.

Executions

Caterpillar bulldozers are used in the Israeli military's "Pressure Cooker" procedure, a disgusting tactic involving deliberately demolishing structures with people still inside. In July 2016, an armored Caterpillar excavator was used to execute Muhammad al-Faqih by demolishing his house while he was inside. Similar executions occurred in August 2014 when a D9 bulldozer killed 24-year-old Zakaria al-Aqra during an eight-hour assault on his home.

Rachel Corrie

On March 16, 2003, American peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while attempting to protect the Nasrallah family home from demolition in Rafah, Gaza. The 23-year-old was wearing a fluorescent orange vest and using a bullhorn when the Israeli-operated bulldozer ran over her. Her family's lawsuit against Caterpillar was dismissed by U.S. courts, which ruled they lacked jurisdiction due to the bulldozers being funded by U.S. military aid.

Zoko Enterprises

Zoko Enterprises is the Israeli company that serves as Caterpillar's exclusive distributor in Israel and operates as a direct military contractor for the Israeli Occupational Forces. Through its subsidiary I.T.E Ltd., the company retrofits civilian bulldozers into weapons of war and provides direct combat support to Israeli military operations.

Zoko operates essentially as a military unit during Israeli operations, with an agreement with the IOF allowing the company maintenance team to function under the status of reservist soldiers. During the December 2023 Gaza genocide, Zoko personnel were recruited to the IOF as a reserve unit to serve as reinforcements for the army's Caterpillar D9 bulldozers' maintenance personnel. This arrangement was also activated during the 2014 Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Zoko's subsidiary I.T.E is responsible for converting civilian Caterpillar equipment into military weapons, including installation of gunner positions and bulletproof driver cabins. Working in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries, Zoko helped develop the "Front Runner" - a remote-controlled mini loader based on a Caterpillar chassis that has been modified into a fully remote-controlled Combat Engineering tool used at the wall surrounding Gaza. The company also operates a training center providing services to the Israeli Air Force, Combat Engineering Corps, Maintenance Corps, and Israeli Navy.

Corporate Evasion and Denial of Responsibility

Human Rights Watch called on the company in 2004 to suspend D9 bulldozer sales to Israel, CEO Jim Owens dismissed the request, claiming Caterpillar had "not have the practical ability or legal right to determine how our products are used after they are sold."

This cynical stance violates international corporate responsibility standards and the company's own code of conduct. When UN Special Rapporteur Jean Ziegler wrote to Owens in May 2004 expressing concerns that Caterpillar may be complicit in violating Palestinians' right to food under international law, Owens did not even bother to reply. Following Rachel Corrie's death, her parents requested a meeting with Owens, but he responded that he "understood our position but had no reason to meet with us."

Despite receiving over 50,000 letters from human rights groups decrying the use of Caterpillar bulldozers in Palestinian home demolitions, the company continues its sales to Israel while maintaining it cannot monitor equipment use, a "head-in-the-sand approach."

U.S. Military Contracts

Caterpillar maintains extensive contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, receiving $1.28 billion in 2022 for construction equipment supply and a previous $641 million contract for wheeled tractor scrapers. U.S. foreign aid funds Caterpillar equipment purchases for Israel.


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