Israel's defense exports reached a record 14.8 billion dollars. Abraham Accords countries now represent 12 percent of that total. Figures on arms sales, trade volumes, tourism flows, and public opinion track the resulting shifts in regional ties.
Key Takeaways
- Israel's defense exports in 2024 reached a record $14.8 billion, with Abraham Accords countries accounting for 12% of exports — up from just 3% in 2023.
- In 2024 alone, signatories of the Accords accounted for 12 percent of Israel's nearly $15 billion in arms exports.
- Arab states accounted for 24% of Israel's $12.5 billion in defense exports in the year prior to 2023.
- The Abraham Accords were signed on September 15, 2020, between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, with Morocco and Sudan joining shortly thereafter.
- The UAE and Bahrain became the first Arab countries to formally recognize Israel since Jordan in 1994.
- The Abraham Accords represented the first formal normalization of Arab-Israeli diplomatic relations since Israel's 1994 peace treaty with Jordan and the 1979 Egypt-Israel agreement following negotiations at Camp David.
- Surveys show that in Arab countries that have signed normalization agreements with Israel, the majority of citizens view the Abraham Accords negatively.
- In November 2022, 76% of Saudi respondents said they had negative views of the Abraham Accords.
- More than two-thirds of citizens in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE viewed the Abraham Accords unfavorably less than two years after their signing, per TWI polling from March 2022.
- The UAE earmarked a $10 billion investment fund in Israel focused on strategic industries including energy, water, space, healthcare, agri-tech, AI, and blockchain, announced following a March call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Israeli PM Netanyahu.
- In November 2021, OurCrowd Arabia became the first Israeli venture capital firm to receive a license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), making it the first-ever Israeli VC to obtain licensed status with ADGM.
- OurCrowd had received over $1.8 billion in commitments and had deployed capital into more than 280 portfolio companies and 30 funds across five continents as of 2021.
- By 2023, more than 1 million Israelis had visited the UAE, supported by 106 weekly direct flights.
- Only about 1,600 Emiratis had traveled to Israel since normalization as of 2023, and this figure dropped even further after October 7, 2023.
- In 2022, approximately 2,700 Israelis visited Bahrain versus 400 Bahrainis visiting Israel.
In 2024, Abraham Accords signatories drove Israel’s record arms exports as their share surged to 12%.
Related reading
01 · Category
Defense & Security Cooperation26 stats
01
Israel's defense exports in 2024 reached a record $14.8 billion, with Abraham Accords countries accounting for 12% of exports — up from just 3% in 2023.
02
In 2024 alone, signatories of the Accords accounted for 12 percent of Israel's nearly $15 billion in arms exports.
03
Arab states accounted for 24% of Israel's $12.5 billion in defense exports in the year prior to 2023.
04
Morocco has purchased Israeli military equipment worth approximately $2 billion since signing the Abraham Accords.
05
According to SIPRI data, about 11% of Morocco's defense imports come from Israel.
06
In November 2021, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a joint security understandings agreement with Moroccan defense minister Abdellatif Loudiyi — the first time Israel openly signed such an agreement with an Arab state.
07
Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding on defense with Israel in 2021, leading to a series of arms deals encompassing advanced drones, air-defense systems, and intelligence satellites.
08
In 2022, Bahrain finalized the first official security agreement between Israel and a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
09
Bahrain's defense ties with Israel include intelligence training and drone sales from Israel to Bahrain.
10
In January 2021, the US Department of Defense transferred Israel from the US European Command area of responsibility to that of the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
11
In November 2021, US Naval Forces Central Command conducted the first publicly acknowledged multilateral military exercise between Abraham Accords signatories in the Red Sea alongside forces from Bahrain, the UAE, and Israel.
12
Reports indicate that Israel supplied the UAE with missile defense batteries in early 2022 against the backdrop of Houthi rebel attacks from Yemen.
13
Morocco became the first of the Abraham Accords cohort to sign its own bilateral cyber defense agreement in 2021.
14
Security cooperation between Morocco and Israel expanded to include air defense and electronic warfare in January 2023.
15
In March 2021, the UAE's state-owned EDGE Group agreed an MoU with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop an advanced counter-unmanned aircraft system for the UAE market and the wider MENA region.
16
Israel reportedly exported about 25% of all domestically produced defense products to Abraham Accords signatory countries, representing a 50% increase from the previous three years.
17
The UAE allowed Israeli companies to participate in its international arms exhibition in February 2025, despite broader political tensions over the Gaza war.
18
Elbit Systems was awarded a $53 million public contract to supply defense systems to the UAE air force, and subsequently established a subsidiary in the UAE.
19
Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company invested up to $20 million in six venture capital companies from the tech sector in Israel as part of defense-tech exchange.
20
In 2021, Morocco took part in a cybersecurity attack simulation organized by the Israel National Cyber Directorate at its pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.
21
The Abraham Accords facilitated the creation of the US-led integrated regional air-defense shield to counter the missile threat from Iran, first prominently tested in April 2024 when Iran directly targeted Israel with mass missile and drone salvos.
22
The Bahrain and UAE participating in naval exercises alongside Israel marked a significant operational integration of Abraham Accords states under the US security umbrella.
23
Israel's cyber industry raised $8.8 billion in over 100 different deals in 2021 — triple the amount from the previous year — with the Abraham Accords opening Gulf markets to Israeli cyber companies.
24
In October 2025, organizers of the Dubai Airshow announced that Israeli security and defense companies would not participate in the event, viewed as reflecting growing political sensitivities between the UAE and Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza war.
25
By 2016, summits and conferences between high-ranking Israeli and Arab politicians and direct contacts between their security and intelligence services had not only become routine but were openly acknowledged, paving the way for the Accords.
26
By 2017, unofficial cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia had been ongoing for at least 5 years, with intelligence services from both countries assisting each other.
Interpretation
Defense & Security Cooperation Interpretation
The data shows that while the Abraham Accords were signed in meeting rooms, their true foundation is being cemented in arms deals, joint exercises, and a quiet but prolific trade in the tools of security, proving that nothing builds a new friendship like a shared enemy and a mutual interest in advanced weaponry.
02 · Category
Diplomatic & Political Milestones23 stats
01
The Abraham Accords were signed on September 15, 2020, between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, with Morocco and Sudan joining shortly thereafter.
02
The UAE and Bahrain became the first Arab countries to formally recognize Israel since Jordan in 1994.
03
The Abraham Accords represented the first formal normalization of Arab-Israeli diplomatic relations since Israel's 1994 peace treaty with Jordan and the 1979 Egypt-Israel agreement following negotiations at Camp David.
04
Sudan agreed to pay US$335 million in compensation to American victims of terror as part of its normalization agreement.
05
As part of Sudan's normalization agreement, the US removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and gave it a US$1.2 billion loan to help clear its debts to the World Bank.
06
Morocco signed the Abraham Accords Declaration on December 22, 2020, becoming the sixth Arab League country to normalize ties with Israel.
07
Kazakhstan formally joined the Abraham Accords on November 6, 2025, marking the first expansion of the framework into Central Asia.
08
In December 2025, Netanyahu expanded the accords on his own initiative after Israel recognized Somaliland as an independent country, with Somaliland pledging to join the accords.
09
In July 2025, the second Trump administration was seeking to expand the Accords to include Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.
10
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff suggested up to six countries could join the Accords, including Libya, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
11
In January 2022, a bipartisan group of US representatives founded the House Abraham Accords Caucus to strengthen the existing agreements and lay the groundwork for further normalization deals.
12
In March 2021, a group of 18 US senators introduced a bill to aid the State Department in developing a strategy to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords.
13
The inaugural Negev Forum conference was hosted by Israel in March 2022, with the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, and the US traveling to Israel — a first for the Emirati, Bahraini, and Moroccan foreign ministers.
14
The January 2023 Negev Forum working group meeting in Abu Dhabi was the largest single gathering of Arab and Israeli officials since the 1991 Madrid peace conference.
15
None of the Abraham Accords signatory states cut off or formally suspended relations with Israel, even during the Gaza war.
16
Bahrain's parliament suspended relations with Israel in November 2023 and recalled the Bahraini ambassador, but this was largely symbolic as the executive branch retains control over the country's foreign relations.
17
In August 2020, the UAE for the first time established telephone links to Israel by unblocking direct dialing to Israel's +972 country code.
18
Morocco and Israel established low-level diplomatic relations during the 1990s, which were suspended after the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, before being restored via the Abraham Accords.
19
Direct flights between Israel and Morocco began in July 2021, following the signing of the normalization agreement in December 2020.
20
Sudan signed the Abraham Accords Declaration on January 6, 2021, during a visit by the US Secretary of the Treasury, but the bilateral agreement with Israel was never signed due to internal instability.
21
As part of Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords, Astana and Washington signed 29 deals reportedly worth $17 billion.
22
The Bahrain-Abraham Accords document is one page long with many trade agreements signed weeks later, while the UAE-Israel agreement is seven pages long with specifics in civil aviation, tourism, water, and more.
23
The 2023 Negev Forum working group in Abu Dhabi included "initiatives that could strengthen the Palestinian economy and improve the quality of life of the Palestinian people" — the largest single gathering of Arab and Israeli officials since the 1991 Madrid peace conference.
Interpretation
Diplomatic & Political Milestones Interpretation
The Abraham Accords have proven remarkably sticky, surviving regional turbulence not with grand romantic gestures, but through the pragmatic glue of dial tones, trade deals, and the quiet understanding that a new embassy is harder to close than a parliament is to appease.
04 · Category
Technology & Innovation23 stats
01
The UAE earmarked a $10 billion investment fund in Israel focused on strategic industries including energy, water, space, healthcare, agri-tech, AI, and blockchain, announced following a March call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Israeli PM Netanyahu.
02
In November 2021, OurCrowd Arabia became the first Israeli venture capital firm to receive a license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), making it the first-ever Israeli VC to obtain licensed status with ADGM.
03
OurCrowd had received over $1.8 billion in commitments and had deployed capital into more than 280 portfolio companies and 30 funds across five continents as of 2021.
04
Israel specializes in AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, and quantum computing, while the UAE holds a comparative advantage in digital transformation and smart cities — complementary capabilities that have driven tech cooperation under the Abraham Accords.
05
The UAE ICT spending is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% during 2019–2024 to reach $23 billion in 2024.
06
In Saudi Arabia, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that spending on IT exceeded $11.1 billion in 2021 with an annual growth rate of 4.2%.
07
Since 2021, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems headed a consortium of Israeli cybersecurity companies in Dubai to help secure contracts with the UAE.
08
In April 2021, UAE cyber chief Mohamed al-Kuwaiti confirmed that the UAE and Israel shared intelligence on Hezbollah's cyber activities, an early concrete outcome of Abraham Accords cybersecurity cooperation.
09
Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi launched the "UAE-IL tech zone," an initiative aimed at building connections focused on technology-related ventures.
10
In November 2022, two Israeli companies — OurCrowd and Liquidity Group — joined a $545 million Abu Dhabi government incentive program for innovation-focused firms in agtech, IT, health services, biopharma, and fintech.
11
Cellebrite signed a $3 million deal with a government agency in Abu Dhabi in 2020 — one of the earliest formalized tech deals between Israel and the UAE under the Abraham Accords framework.
12
Morocco's Gaia Energy Systems and Israel's H2Pro signed a strategic agreement to produce green hydrogen, with Moroccan scientists carrying out research in Israeli universities.
13
The Negev Forum established six working groups in March 2022, covering security, energy, tourism, health, education, water, and food security, institutionalizing multilateral tech and innovation cooperation.
14
In July 2022, Israel, India, the UAE, and the US created the I2U2 Group to collaborate in water, food, transportation, energy, space, and health, stimulating economic cooperation in the Middle East and South Asia.
15
The UAE-Israel "Water for Energy" deal under Project Prosperity Green envisioned solar photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 600 MW to be built in Jordan by 2026, with clean power exported to Israel.
16
Under Project Prosperity Blue, Israel committed to providing Jordan with up to 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually, with all electricity from the solar plant sold to Israel for $180 million per year.
17
Masdar and EDF Renewables Israel are jointly invested in projects in the UAE, including the Al Dhafra solar project in Abu Dhabi — which will be the largest single-site solar plant in the world on completion.
18
In November 2022, at the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Conference, Israel, Jordan, and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding to accelerate implementation of the solar-water project, which was later suspended due to the Gaza war.
19
In November 2021, Israel, the UAE, and Jordan signed a letter of intent for the sale of 600 MW of electricity to Israel annually, produced by solar farms in Jordan to be built by UAE government-owned Masdar.
20
A $36 billion natural gas deal involving Israel, Egypt, and American partners further cemented post-Accords regional energy ties.
21
The UAE, Israel, India, and the US established the I2U2 Group in July 2022 to collaborate across food security, clean energy, technology, and trade.
22
In November 2021, Israel, the Emirates, and Jordan signed a letter of intent for the sale of 600 MW of electricity to Israel annually under what became known as the "Water for Electricity" deal.
23
The Israel-Jordan-UAE largest-ever cooperation agreement was signed at the Dubai Expo in November 2021, with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and US Climate Envoy John Kerry present at the signing ceremony.
Interpretation
Technology & Innovation Interpretation
While the ink was drying on the peace deal, the real signature was a flood of venture capital, cyber intelligence, and solar panels, proving that nothing unites former adversaries like a shared interest in money, security, and air conditioning.
05 · Category
Tourism & People-to-People Ties25 stats
01
By 2023, more than 1 million Israelis had visited the UAE, supported by 106 weekly direct flights.
02
Only about 1,600 Emiratis had traveled to Israel since normalization as of 2023, and this figure dropped even further after October 7, 2023.
03
In 2022, approximately 2,700 Israelis visited Bahrain versus 400 Bahrainis visiting Israel.
04
Bahrain opened its airspace to facilitate traffic between the two countries, though only a few hundred Bahrainis visited Israel in the early years of normalization.
05
Some 5,200 tourists entered Israel from the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Kosovo, and Sudan in 2022, up from 3,500 in 2019, compared with 470,700 Israeli tourists visiting those countries.
06
Close to a quarter of a million Israelis had visited the United Arab Emirates by August 2021 following normalization.
07
In 2021, visits from Israel to the UAE increased by 172%.
08
More than 300,000 Israelis visited the UAE in the two years following the pandemic, according to the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.
09
In the first month after Dubai opened direct flights to Israel in November 2020, more than 67,000 Israeli tourists visited Dubai.
10
Dubai and Israel were the first to establish direct flights in November 2020, with six different companies — Israeli, Emirati, and international — operating those routes.
11
Emirates Airlines launched its Tel Aviv service in June 2022, beginning with one daily flight and expanding to three daily flights by 2023 due to strong demand, before permanently ending service.
12
flydubai had reached eight daily flights to Tel Aviv by late 2023, and current schedules show up to ten daily rotations — the highest frequency since the route launched.
13
flydubai scheduled 33.7% more flights in 2025 compared to 2024, and more than 50% more than in 2023.
14
Saudi Arabia allowed Israeli commercial airline traffic to traverse its airspace, reducing travel time between Bahrain and the UAE for Israeli passengers.
15
Israel and the UAE lifted visa requirements for each other's citizens following the signing of the Abraham Accords.
16
Direct flights between Israel and Morocco began in July 2021, and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited Rabat and Casablanca a month later.
17
An estimated 50,000 Israelis traveled to Morocco each year even before the Abraham Accords were signed, due to historical and cultural ties.
18
Morocco's large Moroccan Jewish diaspora in Israel, estimated at around 1 million, is the second-largest Moroccan community abroad after France, serving as a key driver of tourism potential.
19
An analyst predicted that 200,000 to 400,000 Israeli tourists would travel to Morocco by the end of 2022, owing to the Moroccan Jewish nostalgia for pilgrimage sites.
20
In the summer of 2022, Ben-Gurion University welcomed students from Morocco, and a number of Emirati students enrolled in Israeli universities.
21
After Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the UAE incorporated Holocaust education into its school curriculum as a mandatory subject.
22
Bahrain has embraced shared educational activities and signed a number of agreements with Israel to advance student and professor exchanges.
23
In March 2021, the Israeli and Emirati national rugby teams played their first-ever match, in honor of the Abraham Accords.
24
Morocco's normalization agreements alongside Jewish history are cited as a key factor in boosting tourism from Israel, particularly given that 1 million Moroccan Jews live in Israel.
25
Etihad Airways operates four daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv and planned to increase this to five daily departures.
Interpretation
Tourism & People-to-People Ties Interpretation
The data paints a stark picture of a burgeoning tourist corridor, but one that is overwhelmingly a one-way street, with Israelis flocking to new destinations while reciprocal visits from their Arab partners remain, for now, little more than a polite trickle.
06 · Category
Trade & Economic Impact30 stats
01
Trade between Israel and Arab countries of the Middle East grew by 234 percent in the first seven months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, even excluding tourism and services.
02
Trade between Israel and the UAE increased from $50.8 million in the first seven months of 2020 to $613.9 million in the first seven months of 2021.
03
Total trade between Israel and the Abraham Accords countries increased from $593 million in 2019 to $3.47 billion in 2022.
04
According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics data, trade among Accords countries broke new records in 2023, exceeding USD $4 billion, a 16% increase year over year.
05
In Q1-Q3 of 2023, Abraham Accords trade was up 24% year over year.
06
AAPI estimates that the true value of Abraham Accords trade in 2023 exceeded USD $10 billion when including Israel's exports of natural gas to Egypt, gas and water to Jordan, defense-related trade, and services.
07
According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, UAE-Israel bilateral trade reached $2.95 billion in 2023.
08
According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, trade between Israel and the UAE grew from about $200 million in 2020 to over $3 billion in 2024 (including diamonds).
09
Trade between Israel and the UAE reached $3.24 billion in 2024, representing a 10% increase from 2023.
10
According to the UN Comtrade Database, total trade in goods throughout 2021–2024 between the UAE and Israel reached US$6.4 billion, while reaching approximately US$576 million between Morocco and Israel, and US$50 million between Bahrain and Israel.
11
Between 2021 and 2024, trade between Israel and its Abraham Accords partners, as well as Egypt and Jordan, increased by a remarkable 127 percent.
12
The scope of trade between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries increased 74% between 2021 and 2022.
13
According to Bank of Israel statistics, Israeli imports from the region more than doubled, from $3.6 billion in 2019 to $8.3 billion in 2022.
14
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Israel and the UAE entered into force on April 1, 2023 — the first free trade agreement between Israel and any Arab state.
15
The CEPA stipulates that 96% of all goods traded between Israel and the UAE will be immediately or gradually exempted from customs duties.
16
The CEPA is expected to increase trade between Israel and the UAE, reaching ten billion dollars annually over five years.
17
Israel's new Foreign Minister Eli Cohen stated that the volume of trade with Abraham Accords countries exceeded $2.8 billion dollars in 2022.
18
Figures from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics show that trade between the UAE and Israel in 2021–2022 (excluding diamonds and services) amounted to about $2.5 billion, while trade with Bahrain was worth only $20 million.
19
Bahrain-Israel bilateral trade reached $11.5 million in 2023.
20
Morocco-Israel bilateral trade reached $116 million in 2023.
21
Israel and Morocco signed an economic cooperation and trade agreement in 2022, with a five-year target of $500 million in annual bilateral trade.
22
The annual value of trade and investments between Israel and Abraham Accords countries was estimated to exceed $10 billion in 2023.
23
Trade between Israel and the UAE in July 2023 reached $291.1 million, constituting a 49.36% increase from July 2022.
24
Israel imported $2.57 billion worth of goods and services from Abraham Accords countries in 2022, up from $378.3 million in 2019.
25
By December 2020, Israel had exported some $200 million in products to the Gulf, and within a year almost $600 million in trade had been done between Israel and the UAE.
26
Trade between the UAE and Israel reached $2 billion in 2020, a significant jump from an annual $250 million before normalization.
27
Israel-Jordan bilateral trade reached $1 billion in 2023, factoring in water and gas exports from Israel to Jordan.
28
The "Jordan Gateway" project, a $35 million joint industrial park along the Israel-Jordan border, is expected to create 15,000 new jobs.
29
With over $3.4 billion in trade among Accords countries in 2022 alone, the economic benefits of normalization are becoming clearer.
30
Israel has a cumulative trade deficit with each of the Abraham Accords countries between 2021 and 2024, meaning it has been importing more than it is exporting to Bahrain, Morocco, and the UAE.
Interpretation
Trade & Economic Impact Interpretation
The numbers don’t lie: peace is proving far more profitable than conflict, with trade between Israel and its Abraham Accords partners exploding from millions to billions, showing that even in a tense region, business can build bridges faster than diplomats.
Reference
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APA
Margot Villeneuve. (2026, February 24). Abraham Accords Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/abraham-accords-statistics
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Margot Villeneuve. "Abraham Accords Statistics." Gitnux, 24 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/abraham-accords-statistics.
Chicago
Margot Villeneuve. 2026. "Abraham Accords Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/abraham-accords-statistics.
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