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.



Russian Delegation Heads to Türkiye for Talks with Ukraine, News Agencies Say 

A security personnel stands guard in front of the Ciragan Palace before the third meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations for peace talks in Istanbul, Türkiye, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
A security personnel stands guard in front of the Ciragan Palace before the third meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations for peace talks in Istanbul, Türkiye, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
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Russian Delegation Heads to Türkiye for Talks with Ukraine, News Agencies Say 

A security personnel stands guard in front of the Ciragan Palace before the third meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations for peace talks in Istanbul, Türkiye, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
A security personnel stands guard in front of the Ciragan Palace before the third meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations for peace talks in Istanbul, Türkiye, 23 July 2025. (EPA)

Russian negotiators are flying to Türkiye for the first peace talks with Ukraine in more than seven weeks, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

State agency TASS said talks would take place later on Wednesday in Istanbul.

Data from tracking site Flightradar24 showed the plane used by Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky to fly to previous talks in Istanbul had taken off from Moscow.

The warring sides held two previous rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2, that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers.

But they have made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war.

US President Donald Trump last week threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.

But three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin, unfazed by Trump's ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.