Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Defense Ministry approves $1.5 billion procurement of new Israeli-made armored vehicles, tanks
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An IDF tank drives near Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip on August 19, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The Defense Ministry approves a $1.5 billion plan to step up the production of dozens more locally made armored personnel carriers and tanks over the next five years.
The plan “will increase the armored vehicle inventory while boosting production rates of the Merkava Mk. 4 Barak tanks, Namer APCs, and Eitan wheeled APCs, including those equipped with a turreted 30mm cannon,” the ministry says in a statement.
The ministry highlights the successful use of these vehicles in the fighting that followed Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel, noting that “these platforms have accumulated more than one million kilometers in [the] current operation.”
The plan still needs budgetary approval from the Knesset.
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