Israel sold a record $12.6 billion in defense exports in 2022, the Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
Defense exports have doubled in less than a decade and increased by 50% in the past three years, with sales to the Abraham Accords countries reaching $3 billion, the ministry said.
“The unprecedented data presented by the defense establishment—centered on a new record in defense export volumes—reflect in the most striking way the security strength and technological superiority of the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.
“Thanks to the creativity and innovation of the people of the defense industries and the Ministry of Defense, we manage to get ahead of our enemies and maintain the qualitative advantage over them.
“The citizens of Israel today have a great reason to be proud—also in the extraordinary figures and especially in those who stand behind them. Global changes have created a great demand for Israeli technologies that have become a household name in the world, and we predict that this trend will continue and intensify in the coming year as well,” Gallant said.
The data were presented at a conference of senior defense industry leaders chaired by Gallant and held in the Defense Ministry tower at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Half of the contracts are “mega-deals” worth more than $100 million.
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and drones accounted for 25% of the exports, followed by missiles, rockets and aerial defense systems at 19%.
“Looking ahead, the geostrategic changes in Europe and Asia alongside the Abraham Accords create a high demand for Israeli systems at the cutting edge of technology,” said Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, director general of the Ministry of Defense.