The United Arab Emirates has been revealed as the unidentified purchaser behind a $2.3 billion agreement finalized last month with Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems, as reported by Intelligence Online on December 15.
According to the publication, the contract, which Elbit referred to merely as a "strategic solution for an international customer," represents the largest transaction in the company's history.
Elbit disclosed the contract without revealing the identity of the buying nation or the specific systems involved, only mentioning that the project is set to be executed over an eight-year timeframe.
The firm also declined to specify the region of the customer, not even indicating the continent. Elbit has yet to provide any comments regarding the report.
While the exact details of the UAE agreement remain under a publication restriction, Intelligence Online characterized the contract as having a "historic scope."
The publication categorized this agreement among a series of significant arms exports by Israeli defense firms in recent years.
The most substantial of these was the sale of the Arrow 3 system by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to Germany in 2023 for $3.5 billion. More recently, Rafael won a tender from the Romanian Ministry of Defense at the end of June for short-range and very short-range air defense systems, a deal valued at approximately $2.2 billion.
Notable previous exports include IAI's sale of Barak 8 missile systems to India in April 2017 for $1.6 billion, followed by a $630 million agreement for the naval variant of the same system about a month later.
The identification of the UAE as Elbit's secret client arises amidst increasing criticism from human rights organizations regarding Israel's actions in Gaza, with entities such as Amnesty International and Oxfam cautioning that the transfer of advanced military systems could facilitate serious breaches of international law and exacerbate civilian suffering.
This disclosure follows a discreet enhancement of UAE-Israel collaboration that has persisted throughout Israel's actions in Gaza, including advancements on a cross-regional transport corridor.
