Four Arab countries account for 24% of record Israel arms sales

Israeli defence exports hit an all-time high of $12.5 billion last year, with Arab countries that recently established ties accounting for nearly a quarter of purchase contracts, officials said.

The Defence Ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel's defence industries, said one-quarter of deals were for drone systems, with "missiles, rockets and air defence systems" making up another 19 percent.

Ministry figures show total exports have doubled over the past nine years.

A breakdown of the regions to which the goods are exported showed a leap among countries which normalised ties from $853 million [nine percent] in 2021 to $2.96 billion [24 percent] in 2022.

The US-brokered so-called Abraham Accords from 2020 saw Israel normalise ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

The ministry would not provide further details.

The ministry said the Russian war on Ukraine has increased the demand for the Israeli-made weapons in Europe.

"Global instability increases the demand for Israeli air defence systems, drones, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and missiles, and we continually work to preserve our capabilities and strengthen them," Defence Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

Germany to buy Israel's Arrow-3

The German Parliament on Wednesday approved a $4.3-billion deal to purchase Israel's Arrow 3 air defence system, as the country moves to bolster its defences following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Arrow-3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

It is the top layer of Israel's missile defence array, which extends from Iron Dome that intercepts short-range rockets to Arrow-3's long-range missiles that destroy any non-conventional warheads at a safe altitude.

The budget committee in the lower house of parliament gave the green light for an initial payment of 560 million euros, a committee source told AFP news agency.

Israel's Rafael Defence Systems on Wednesday said it had developed a hypersonic missile interceptor, which it planned to unveil at the Paris Air Show next week.