Amid the onslaught in Gaza, Tel Aviv exported $13 billion in arms

The Israeli Defense Ministry announced that, for the third straight year, Tel Aviv had set a new record for weapon exports. Israel sold $13 billion in arms last year, with India the largest importer.

In a statement on Monday, the ministry touted Tel Aviv’s ability to distribute munitions around the globe. “For the third consecutive year, Israel set a new record in defense exports, with over $13 billion in 2023, the highest figure to date,” it wrote.

“Israel’s defense exports have doubled within five years, with over a third of the agreements signed – missile, rocket, and air defense systems,” the statement continued. “Israeli defense industries signed hundreds of significant contracts worldwide with the help and support of the Israel Ministry of Defense, including mega-deals amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.”

The exports included missiles, rockets, electronic warfare equipment, radar war systems, weapon launchers, drones, and ammunition.

At $13 billion, Israel is the world’s ninth-largest arms dealer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India was the top importer of Israeli weapons during the same period, purchasing nearly $1 billion in gear. The SIPRI research found that the Philippines and the US were Israel’s second and third-largest arms export recipients respectively.

Haaretz noted that the SIPRI report is not comprehensive, and Israel has conducted weapons sales with Azerbaijan that go undocumented by the international arms watchdog.

Tel Aviv’s record year came as the Israel Defense Forces rampaged through Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinians while razing much of the enclave. Israel has a legacy of testing its new or experimental weapons on Palestinians before selling them to the world.

The Israeli atrocities in Gaza have led some countries to halt arms purchases from Tel Aviv, including Colombia. The US has withheld a single shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel over the use of heavy munitions in civilian areas of the Strip.