JERUSALEM: Israel’s defence ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel again reached an all-time peak in defence exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defence agreements,“ the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel’s defence industries, said in a statement.
A majority -- 56.8 percent -- of the deals signed were “mega-deals” valued at at least $100 million each, the ministry said, adding that “operational achievements” in the Gaza war had driven the demand.
Since the outbreak of the war, sparked by militant group Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, the ministry said it had been operating on “emergency mode, mobilising for the war effort with round-the-clock IDF production while maintaining foreign client manufacturing.”
“The war’s operational achievements and the proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have driven strong international demand for Israeli defense technology, concluding 2024 on a remarkably high note with record-breaking export deals,“ it said.
The ministry said that demand for its missiles, rockets, and air defence systems had “reached a new significant milestone” and accounted for some 48 percent of the total number of exports, up from 36 percent in 2023.
Additionally, “satellite and space systems exports saw substantial growth, representing 8 percent of deals in 2024 compared to 2 percent in 2023,“ the ministry said.
A breakdown of the regions to which the arms were exported showed that European countries made up more than half.
Sales to countries considered part of the Abraham Accords -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco who signed groundbreaking normalisation agreements with Israel in 2020 -- appeared to have sharply risen from 3 percent in 2023 to 12 percent.
“Precisely during a difficult and complex year of war, Israel has broken an all-time record in defence exports,“ Defence Minister Israel Katz said in the statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it,“ he added.
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