2023-06-14 13:46:06
Israeli officials confirmed, on Wednesday, that the Hebrew state’s military exports reached an all-time high in 2022, with $12.5 billion, while a quarter of the sales went to Arab countries with which it recently signed normalization agreements.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense, which supervises exports of “defense industries” and grants approvals for them, said that one in four deals related to unmanned aircraft systems, while “missiles and air defense systems” accounted for 19 percent of all exports.
According to the ministry’s data, exports have doubled over the past nine years.
Data related to export areas showed a quantum leap in exports to Arab countries that signed normalization agreements with Israel.
In terms of numbers, export revenues amounted to $853 million to these countries in 2021, compared to $2.96 billion in 2022, increasing from 9 to 24 percent of the total of these exports.
Since 2020, Israel has signed agreements to normalize relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, with US mediation.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense did not provide further details.
“Global instability increases demand for Israeli air defense systems, drones and missiles. We are constantly working to maintain and enhance our capabilities,” the ministry’s director general, Eyal Zamir, said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the German parliament is scheduled to approve the purchase of Israeli air defense systems, Sahm-3, in a deal valued at regarding $4.3 billion.
The deal with Germany comes amid a move by European countries to boost their defense capability in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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