Israel announces surge in defence exports to Arab countries

Israeli defence exports. (Israeli Ministry of Defense )

The Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD) has announced record defence exports for 2022, saying the contracts agreed on totalled USD12.5 billion, up from USD11.4 billion in 2021, which was itself a record high.

The figures the MoD released on 14 June on the regions buying Israeli military products showed a massive increase in the ‘Abraham Accords’ category, from USD853 million (7% of the total) in 2021 to USD2.962 billion (24%) in 2022, as well as a significant decrease in the Europe category, from USD4.645 billion (41%) to USD3.67 billion (29%).

The Abraham Accords category refers to the three Arab countries that normalised relations with Israel in 2020 – Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The only significant contract reported in 2022 was one from the UAE for the Rafael Spyder air-defence system, with Reuters citing two sources as saying the Israeli government approved it in the summer.