General Dynamics (CEO — Phebe Novakovic) is one of the “Big Five” weapons manufacturers supplying arms to Israel for its genocide in Gaza.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the U.S. company has long been one of Israel’s key military suppliers. Thousands of 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs produced by General Dynamics have been delivered to Israel and used to kill Palestinians — men, women, and children — across the Gaza Strip.
General Dynamics CFO Jason Aiken even boasted publicly about the rising demand caused by the war, saying that “what really stands out is probably on the artillery side.”

But Phebe Novakovic and General Dynamics don’t stop there. The company also supplies the 20mm, 25mm, and 30mm cannons mounted on Israeli F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets — weapons used to hunt down and massacre civilians running for shelter. They also sell the diesel engines that power the Merkava tanks rolling through Gaza’s destroyed neighborhoods.

The war on Gaza has been very good for General Dynamics. After stagnating in the spring of 2022, the company’s stock soared following the start of the genocide in October 2023. From October 7, 2023, GD shares rose nearly 50%, from $239.20 to $347.59. In 2024, the company reported $3.8 billion in profits — a 14% increase over the previous year.

But corporations are not faceless machines — they are run by people. And in this case, that person is Phebe Novakovic.

How does a woman with a liberal arts degree from Smith College, an MBA from Wharton, and no prior private-sector experience get groomed and chosen to lead one of the largest arms manufacturers in the world?
Novakovic has been CEO and President of General Dynamics since 2012, and the Gaza genocide has been extremely profitable for her: in 2024, she earned nearly $24 million. On January 29, 2024, she sold 32,355 shares worth $8.55 million. Those shares had gained $1.43 million in value since October 8, 2023 — four months earlier — meaning she personally profited by roughly $1.5 million during that period. Her net worth now stands in the hundreds of millions.

In a 2016 interview, Novakovic said she left her government job for General Dynamics because she “couldn’t afford to send her children to college.” Problem solved: while every university in Gaza lies in ruins, Novakovic can afford the best education money can buy — and much more.

Born into a military family, she spent five years in the CIA before moving into government positions at the Office of Management and Budget and later the Pentagon, overseeing defense and intelligence spending. Her rise at General Dynamics seems to have relied less on business expertise than on Washington connections and an intimate knowledge of the federal contracting labyrinth — and perhaps on lessons learned from her years in intelligence.

Novakovic has proudly declared that the U.S. “cannot go to war without us,” speaking of “the intimacy we need to have with our customers.”
When challenged by a shareholder over U.S. bombs killing Yemeni children, she replied: “We can define and debate who is evil and who is not, but we do support the policy of the United States, and I happen to believe that policy is just and fair.”

To speak of “doing the right thing” and “acting on principle” while providing the weapons used to systematically slaughter civilians is moral hypocrisy of the highest order. Novakovic has been enriched — one mutilated body, one shattered family, one extinguished life at a time — without ever facing accountability.

In a just world, public shame would not be enough: there would be real consequences. For now, Phebe Novakovic remains the face of an industry that turns war and human suffering into shareholder profits.