Israel signed a record $14 billion in defense deals last year despite Gaza war criticism

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel signed defense contracts worth nearly $15 billion last year, surpassing its all-time record, the country’s defense ministry said Wednesday, even as international outrage mounts over the war in Gaza. Over half the deals were with European countries.

The contracts - a 13% increase from 2023, itself a record year - came as Israel faces growing international condemnation and isolation over the nearly 20-month war.

Some of Israel’s closest allies, including Canada and France, recently stepped up their censure of Israel's actions in Gaza, and the U.K. suspended free trade talks. Some critics of Israel’s conduct in the Palestinian enclave have called for countries to suspend trade with it.

Some countries have taken steps to suspend defense contracts with Israel. Spain on Tuesday said it had canceled a deal for anti-tank missile systems that were to be manufactured in Madrid by a subsidiary of an Israeli company.

A breakdown of Israel’s 2024 defense deals by region:

- European countries: 54%

- Asia-Pacific: 23%

- Arab countries that have normalized ties with Israel under the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords: 12%

- North America: 9%

- Latin America: 1%

- Africa: 1%

Nearly half the deals were for missiles, rockets and air defense systems, Israel’s defense ministry said.

Others included the sale of vehicles and armored personnel carriers, satellite and space systems and intelligence and cyber systems, among others. More than half of the agreements were worth over $100 million each.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the record amount was a "direct result" of Israel’s battlefield achievements throughout the wars that have roiled the Middle East since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

"The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it," Katz said in a statement.

The war in Gaza has left much of the territory in ruins from Israel’s punishing air campaign.

The fighting has killed more than 54,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.

A nearly three-month blockade on aid into Gaza also strained ties with Israel’s international allies. Israel began allowing limited aid into the territory last month.