The Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced a record NIS 52 billion in defense exports during 2024, a 13% jump over 2023, despite concerns about economic boycotts related to the ongoing war.
Over half of the defense export deals themselves broke the $100 million mark, and over half of them were with European countries, though some countries in Europe have been among Israel’s loudest war critics.
In 2023, European sales represented only 35% of sales.
European countries are generally spending far more on defense since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, making them feel more endangered than at any time since the Cold War ended in 1991.
This feeling of danger in Europe may only increase now with the Trump administration signaling to Europe that it is no longer willing or less willing to provide Europe with American defenses and massive forces.
During the last five years, Israel’s defense exports industry has jumped by 100%
Air defense systems against missiles and rockets, such as the Iron Dome, the Arrow, and David’s Sling, accounted for 48% of all sales compared to 36% in 2023.
Aerospace and satellite technology sales jumped to 8% from 2% in 2023.
Armored fighting vehicles and other ground vehicles made up 9% of sales.
Drones accounted for 8% of exports, a drop compared to some prior years.
Radar and electronic warfare accounted for 8% of sales.
Regarding other regions, Asia and the Pacific made up 23% of sales, down from some prior years where they were closer to 30%.
North America was steady at 9%, with past years also being around the 10-11% mark.
Israel started to get a boost in defense sales from new Abraham Accords countries already after the 2020 agreements were signed, with those sales reaching 23% in 2022 but now having dropped to around 12%.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel’s impressive military performance versus Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran had made its defense products more attractive than ever.