Middle East Monitor / November 17, 2020
Israel’s normalisation of ties with Arab states stimulated American arms sales and supported the Israeli army, Israeli journalist and writer Hagai Amit has written in TheMarker, the economic attachment of Haaretz.
Arabi21 reported Amit saying that the Israeli government’s ratification of the normalisation deal with Bahrain was a “start of a new stage of the Jewish-Arab spring.”
In addition to the benefits of the normalisation deals to Israel, they are considered the start of the “honeymoon” for the American arms industry.
Last week, according to Amit, the US Department of Defence revealed a series of good news about the local arms industry which is considered the legacy of President Donald Trump in this field.
“Israeli arms industry considers this as the start of American flow of arms supplies for the Gulf States,” Amit wrote. The UAE is already expected to receive F-35 fighter jets from the US as a result of its signing of the peace deal with the occupation state.
Amit also reported that Qatar reached a deal with US firms that would see Qatar having F-15 fighter jets for the first time, noting that the first stage is to supply Qatar with 36 fighters of 72 it had requested.
Last week, the Department of Defence revealed a $9.8 billion deal between Saudi Arabia and Boeing which will develop 70 F-15 jets for the kingdom.
The Israeli air force benefits indirectly from such deals because the US will improve and develop the Israeli army’s F-15 jets, while some of the jets’ parts are produced and installed by the Israeli air industry.
Israel, Amit warned, cannot enter an arms race with Gulf states because it doesn’t have the budget of these oil rich countries.
