Israel Reports Record Defense Exports in 2022, $3 Billion to Arab Partners
Israeli and American air force crews participate in the “Desert Falcon” joint international exercise in Israel in January 2022. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Israel exported a record $12.556 billion in defense products in 2022, with new Arab partners under the Abraham Accords accounting for nearly 25 percent of the business, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
Last year’s figures – $11.3 billion – marked a 50 percent increase over the previous three years and doubled in volume over the past decade, the Defense Ministry noted. Drones accounted for a quarter of the exports, while missiles, rockets, and air defense systems accounted for 19 percent.
Without naming specific countries, the ministry said 24 percent of defense exports last year were sent to states included in the U.S.-brokered 2020 Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with a number of Arab governments, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.
Asia and the Pacific accounted for 30 percent of the defense exports, Europe for 29 percent, and North America for 11 percent, the Defense Ministry said.
Last year, Israel was ranked the 10th largest international arms exporter between 2017 and 2021 by an independent global security think tank. According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the market to Europe between those five years had increased, Gulf states were the main importers, and Israel was a major player.
Israel accounted for 2.4 percent of international arms exports between those five years, with the top recipients being India, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam.
In the past two months, Israel signed defense export agreements with Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Greece, worth a total of over $725 million.
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