Tel Aviv: The unofficial warming of the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel has already created a big potential market for the Israeli defence industry.
In recent weeks, the Saudis have formally requested the Israeli ministry of defence to approve the sale of different UAVs, radar systems other early warning systems and some air defence systems to its defence forces. Israeli officials visited the kingdom to discuss the potential deals.
“There are negotiations on actual deals and Israeli and Saudi are meeting almost every week to finalise such deals,” an Israeli source said. The source added that the Saudis are especially interested in systems that will enable them to monitor the huge airspace of the country.
The source further added that the Saudis have indicated that they are interested in some Israeli made defence systems, mainly those that can protect sensitive site like oil facilities from rocket and missile attacks.
The Israeli ministry of defence refused to comment. An Israeli defence source said that the negotiations are focused on systems that are not subject to an export approval of Washington. These include aerial defence systems like the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) BARAK air defence system and the Spyder made by Rafael.
The creation of the strategic defence alliance between the US, Israel and some Middle eastern and Gulf states is causing growing nervousness in Tehran. The forming of this alliance triggered a fierce reaction from Iran.
Tehran warned the countries that this alliance will only worsen the security situation in the region and not serve its security interests. The announcement went further to say that Iran will attack targets that are part of the new alliance.
It is not clear yet what types of defence systems the Israeli industries will be allowed to sell to Saudi Arabia, but as one official said, “Each potential deal will be evaluated based on facts only, no other considerations.”
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
