Since the start of the war in October, Israel’s Ministry of Defense has spent NIS 30 billion including VAT on local procurement, according to information from the Ministry of Defense Department of Production and Procurement (DOPP) seen by “Globes.” More than half of this amount has been spent on defense equipment, ammunition and weapons. This wide ranging spending has been on the instruction of Ministry of Defense director general Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir to base as much procurement as possible on Israeli-made items. This amount represents a normal full-year’s procurement by the DOPP.
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The data reflect the significant consequences of the recruitment of some 300,000 reservists, as a result of which 28.7% of Israeli procurement during the war (NIS 8.61 billion) has been for “miscellaneous” items. A wide range of products that includes, for example, clothing, tents, accommodation equipment and chemical and other services that exist on the market.
This was the second biggest category after the procurement of defense equipment, ammunition and weapons which amounted to NIS 16.4 billion. The lion’s share of that amount went to Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael. However, it is very likely that subcontractors of the three major companies also benefited from procurement.
One of the significant issues that the management of the Ministry of Defense has been asked to address is to restore capabilities, which have not been acquired for many years. As part of the rapid conclusions drawn, it has been realized that there is a critical need for a large quantity and independence in the field of land weapons – four times the amount of domestic production before the outbreak of the war. Investments have been made, and procedures for modernization, automation and expansion of production lines has been carried out.
Interesting procurement by the IDF includes NIS 100 million on drones and NIS 920 million for computer equipment. Over the same period, the procurement delegation in the US spent more than $6 billion. The annual US military aid package is worth $3.3 billion plus $500 million per year for joint developments in the field of air defense and the various aid packages approved during the war.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 26, 2024.
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