Israeli arms sales increased dramatically — by more than 40 percent — from 2016 to 2017, per new figures released by the Defense Ministry.
Defense exports brought in $9.2 billion last year, compared to the $6.5 billion in 2016 and $5.7 billion the year before, according to the International Defense Cooperation Directorate at the Defense Ministry, known as SIBAT.
“This is an extraordinary achievement in every sense, which was reached thanks to the hard work of SIBAT and the defense industries and due to a number of agreements with foreign countries,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says in a statement.
This dramatic increase can also be credited to efforts made by the Defense Ministry over the past year to deregulate the arms industry and make it easier for Israeli firms to export their wares.
SIBAT chief Michel Ben-Baruch tells reporters he expects similar levels of defense exports in 2018.
— Judah Ari Gross
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