Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday discussed the scope of Israeli arms sales to moderate Sunni Arab countries in the Middle East.
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Gantz was speaking to military reporters ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to the region next week.
In the period since the signing of the Abraham Accords some two years ago, Gantz said, there have been more than 150 meetings between Israeli defense officials with their counterparts across the Middle East, not including Jordan and Egypt, in which Israeli weapons have been sold for over $3 billion. Defense officials refuse to say which specific weapons have been sold, although the two criteria always in consideration are the needs of these Sunni Arab states, weighed against Israel's security concerns in case one of these regimes is overthrown.
Gantz and senior ministry and Israeli Air Force officials will show Biden Israel's new "Iron Beam" laser defense system at the Palmahim airbase during his visit. Israeli officials will likely request funding for additional Iron Beam development and batteries. The concern among defense officials is that the political crisis in Israel is that the national budget will remain the same in 2023 and delay the flagship strategic project.
"My intention is to add another half-billion shekels to this project in the near future," Gantz said. According to assessments, the IAF will declare the system operational within two years, in the best case scenario. Additionally, defense officials believe the war in Ukraine will be a catalyst for considerably more Israeli arms sales to European militaries.
Meanwhile, Gantz said the three drones launched by Hezbollah at Israel's Karish gas rig earlier this week were manufactured in Iran. Minimizing Iran's influence in the region and improving the nuclear deal being negotiated between the Islamic republic and world powers will be at the forefront of the meeting with Biden, who will then travel to the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia.
A senior defense official said, "Israel will work to strengthen regional cooperation against Iran, in air and sea defenses, and in other areas. We are preparing for there to be no nuclear deal with Iran or a bad nuclear deal with Iran, in the operative sense as well."
Gantz intends to pressure global powers to persuade the US to reach the longest and strongest possible deal with Iran. As for the Palestinian issue, the defense minister said: "The PA also needs to implement trust-building measures, and we ask of it to expand its security activity in in Area A and halt its petitions to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. We need to remember where we were a year and a half ago with the Palestinians, and we are improving both their economic situation and the economic situation of the residents of Gaza.
Gantz said he also intends to increase the number of work permits for Gazans to some 20,000, and in any case to condition key civilian development projects in the coastal enclave on a deal for the return of Israelis in Hamas captivity.
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