The Israeli Ministry of Defense welcomed, on Monday, June 17, the «new record in 2023, for the third consecutive year, amounting to nearly double the value of exports compared to five years ago». In 2023, the value of exports reached $13 billion last year compared to $12.5 billion in 2022 and $11.4 billion in 2021. Between 2018 and 2020, this figure fluctuated between $7.5 and $8.5 billion, according to Israeli media. In 2023, orders from Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords (Morocco, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain) did not follow this upward trend, recording a sharp decline. They represented only «3% of total Israeli arms sales» abroad, compared to 24% in 2022. A decline that is noteworthy as the Israeli army has launched a war on Gaza since October 7, 2023. In 2021, a year after the normalization of relations between Rabat, Abu Dhabi, and Manama with Tel Aviv, orders from the three Arab countries represented 7% of all Israeli exports. Commenting on this trend, the Ministry of Defense did not focus on the decline recorded by Arab clients, preferring to highlight the increase in contracts concluded in 2023. «Even though our defense industries are committed… to the war effort, they continue to sign more and more significant export deals», the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant noted.
