Israel's Arms Exports Reached $7 Billion in 2018

Israeli soldiers patrolling along the Israeli-Lebanese border on January 20, 2014. AFP file photo
Israeli soldiers patrolling along the Israeli-Lebanese border on January 20, 2014. AFP file photo
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Israel's Arms Exports Reached $7 Billion in 2018

Israeli soldiers patrolling along the Israeli-Lebanese border on January 20, 2014. AFP file photo
Israeli soldiers patrolling along the Israeli-Lebanese border on January 20, 2014. AFP file photo

Israeli military exports exceeded 7.5 billion dollars in 2018, with most of the production going to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Israeli Government said on Wednesday.

A defense ministry spokesperson told AFP that the total was down from $9.2 billion in 2017, but that had been an exceptionally strong year.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute put Israel in eighth place in its 2017 top 10 of global arms exporters and said its largest clients that year were India, Azerbaijan and Vietnam.

The Israeli government does not comment on individual arms sales, but Wednesday’s ministry statement said missile and air defense systems accounted for 24 percent of 2018 sales.

Unmanned aerial vehicles and drone systems amounted to 15 percent, radars and early warning systems 14 percent and aircraft and avionics 14 percent.

Other areas included “land systems, ammunition and weapon stations,” intelligence and cyber systems and naval systems, it added.

“Over the past year we have signed dozens of contracts with various countries around the world,” the head of the defense ministry’s international cooperation directorate, Mishel Ben-Baruch, said in the statement.

“This serves as further evidence of the desire of more and more countries to cooperate with the state of Israel, and a sign of their confidence in the excellent capabilities of our defence industries,” he added.

Sales to Asia and the Pacific region were 46 percent of the total, the statement said, with 26 percent going to Europe, 20 percent to North America, six percent to South America and two percent to Africa.



Turkish Prosecutor Launches Probe into Main Opposition Leader

Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel delivers a speech during the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Congress at the City Cube in Berlin, Germany, 28 June 2025.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel delivers a speech during the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Congress at the City Cube in Berlin, Germany, 28 June 2025. EPA/FILIP SINGER
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Turkish Prosecutor Launches Probe into Main Opposition Leader

Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel delivers a speech during the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Congress at the City Cube in Berlin, Germany, 28 June 2025.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel delivers a speech during the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Congress at the City Cube in Berlin, Germany, 28 June 2025. EPA/FILIP SINGER

A Turkish prosecutor launched an investigation on Monday into main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel following remarks he made criticizing the government and the president, broadcaster NTV said.

The prosecutor in capital Ankara will investigate Republic People's Party (CHP) head Ozel's Saturday statements on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, publicly inciting to commit a crime, and insulting and threatening public officials, NTV reported.

In his speech, Ozel was criticizing the widening crackdown on the opposition-run municipalities after Turkish authorities detained three more mayors on Saturday over corruption charges, according to Reuters.