Elbit opened an office in the UAE after the country normalized relations with Israel under the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords. But Elbit has only once, in January 2022, publicly acknowledged that it cut a deal with the UAE, when the firm announced a $53 million sale of defense systems for Emirati fueler jets.<\/p>\n
However, Elbit announced in November that it had reached a $2.3 billion deal to sell unspecified strategic equipment to an unidentified customer, whom a French intelligence-focused magazine claimed was the UAE.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n According to Haaretz, a leaked 2021 Elbit memo reportedly indicates that Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry also gave the firm a green light to sell the UAE short-range SkyStriker loitering munitions and Hermes-900 surveillance drones.<\/p>\n The Hermes-900 drones are some of the most advanced in Elbit\u2019s arsenal. They are able to give users high-resolution, multi-angle footage that can be rewound in real time.<\/p>\n In March 2022 \u2014 two months after Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked refineries and an airport in Abu Dhabi \u2014 the UAE sent Elbit an urgent request to supply the Gulf state with six Hermes-900 systems, each of which includes three aircraft, Haaretz reported.<\/p>\n Elbit responded that month with a proposal that priced each system at $40 million. The UAE later expressed an interest in expanding the deal to 15 systems, for a total of roughly $1.3 billion, Haaretz said.<\/p>\n \t Other leaked correspondence reportedly showed Elbit pitching its newest drone, the Hermes-650, to the UAE in March 2023 \u2014 a year before the model was publicly unveiled at a defense expo in Singapore.<\/p>\n The drone has both signal intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic warfare capabilities. A slideshow from the sales pitch said the Hermes-650 works with Elbit\u2019s SkyStriker munitions and attack drones produced by fellow Israeli arms firm Aeronautics, suggesting those products may have already been sold to the UAE, Haaretz said.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the leaked documents was a photo of an Emirati \u201cairborne SIGINT wish list\u201d marked \u201cconfidential.\u201d The wish list, whose date was unclear from the reports, included a request to procure four Elbit surveillance aircraft, as well as cyber, electronic warfare and other capabilities, within 42 months of the agreement.<\/p>\n In a response quoted by Haaretz and Drop Site, Elbit Systems said it \u201cdoes not comment on business matters relating to its customers\u201d and that \u201cthe materials presented do not accurately reflect the company\u2019s business activities.\u201d<\/p>\n The Emirati Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment, Drop Site said.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s defense cooperation with the UAE has reached unprecedented levels during the Iran war that began on February 28, in which Iran also targeted Gulf states and especially the UAE.<\/p>\n Early in the war, Israel sent<\/a> Iron Dome missile defense systems and staff to the UAE, where the system managed to shoot down dozens of Iranian missiles. The systems are produced by Aeronautics owner Rafael.<\/p>\n It was the first time Iron Dome was deployed in a country other than Israel or the US, Axios has reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who covertly visited the UAE during the war, ordered the Iron Dome deployment to the UAE following a call with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the news site reported at the time.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tFrom left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US president Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, sit during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, September 15, 2020. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n
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