Israel's two largest defense companies have sold hundreds of millions of shekels worth of advanced military systems to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, including missile defense components and equipment for F-15 fighter jets, according to a report published Sunday by Haaretz, supported by documents and photographs.
Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries sold hundreds of millions of shekels' worth of missile defense systems and components for advanced jets to both countries. The sales were approved by Israel's Defense Ministry.
The report lands on a day when Iran launched ballistic missiles at American bases across the Gulf — the very threat that has driven Gulf states to quietly deepen security ties with Israel regardless of the state of formal diplomatic relations.
The scale of Israel's Gulf defense relationships is broader than Sunday's report alone. According to earlier reporting by Maariv, Elbit signed contracts with Qatar worth more than $100 million, Rafael signed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, and Israel Aerospace Industries executives made at least 20 visits to Doha, including a full-day meeting with a senior Qatari delegation at IAI's headquarters in Israel. Those deals were given the green light by Netanyahu, the Defense Ministry, and the IDF.
Qatar's position makes the relationship particularly complex. The Gulf state hosts Hamas's political leadership and has served as a key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, even as its military quietly procures Israeli-made systems. The October 7 attacks interrupted some of the ongoing talks and led to the cancellation of certain contracts that had already been signed.
The broader context is one of record-breaking Israeli arms exports driven by battlefield-proven technology. Sales of Israeli weapons have more than doubled over the last five years, reaching nearly $15 billion in 2024, including to countries that publicly avoid weapons deals with Israel.
Against the backdrop of a new balance of power emerging in the Middle East following the war, Trump's plans, and the rising influence of countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Israel finds itself in an unprecedented geopolitical reality — one in which its defense companies are arming the same Gulf states whose diplomatic posture toward Israel remains, at best, ambiguous.
Both companies offered standard responses. Elbit stated that its international activities are subject to Defense Ministry guidelines and that it operates accordingly. Rafael stated that it does not provide information about business partners.
