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Annual Israeli arms gross sales reached a brand new file in 2021, in response to Protection Ministry figures launched Tuesday, with officers citing a pointy improve in demand for Israeli-made weapons.
The ministry’s Worldwide Protection Cooperation Directorate, generally known as SIBAT, stated protection exports totaled $11.3 billion final yr, up from $8.3 billion in 2020. Exports beforehand hit a file excessive of $9.2 billion in 2017 owing to a number of giant offers.
“Israel’s protection exports have reached double-digit figures for the primary time, reaching a 55 % improve inside two years,” Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yair Kulas, the top of SIBAT, advised reporters on Monday.
“Demand for Israeli protection merchandise has risen previously yr, manifesting within the sharp improve in transactions between nations, amongst different issues,” Kulas added.
Europe was the biggest purchaser of Israeli protection items, shopping for 41% of whole exports, adopted by the Asia-Pacific area at 34% and North America at 12%.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which not too long ago normalized relations with Israel in agreements generally known as the Abraham Accords, accounted for 7% of the arms purchases. Lastly, Africa and Latin America every accounted for 3%.
“Trying forward, shifting world priorities and partnerships such because the Abraham Accords create excessive demand for Israel’s cutting-edge technological methods,” Kulas stated.
Missiles, rockets, and air-defense methods made up the biggest chunk of exports at 20%, adopted by coaching providers at 15%. Exports of unmanned aerial automobiles and drones amounted to 9% of all arms gross sales, as did radar and digital warfare methods.
Whereas Israel is well-known for cyber-intelligence methods, they solely amounted to 4% of all gross sales previously yr. Officers didn’t specify which nations they had been bought to. Israeli gross sales of such expertise have come underneath growing scrutiny in recent times resulting from allegations they had been utilized by some nations to spy on political dissidents and journalists.
Avionics, digital monitoring, weapons launchers, automobiles and ammunition accounted for a lot of the remainder.
Ministry officers famous the general variety of government-to-government arms gross sales had greater than tripled in comparison with the earlier yr, reaching over $3.3 billion.
“Safety relations are an integral part of Israel’s political relations and our skill to cooperate with different nations, and we work to strengthen these ties and create new safety partnerships,” stated Protection Minister Benny Gantz.
“The height in protection agreements in 2021 is at first a way of strengthening the safety of the State of Israel,” he added.
In keeping with an impartial world safety assume tank, Israel was ranked the Tenth-largest worldwide weapons exporter previously 5 years.
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