Israeli media revealed that hundreds of old Merkava tanks are on their way to Europe, in light of increased demand for them because of diminishing arsenal stocks due to the war in Ukraine.

"40 years after being employed by the Israeli army, hundreds of second and third-generation Merkava tanks are expected to be sold to two foreign countries, including for the first time to a European country," YNet reported. 

"These tanks have ceased to be used in recent years, and they are stored in maintenance facilities, but after the break out of the war in Ukraine and the renewed demand for armored war vehicles, they were tested and found suitable enough for sale."

The report said the Israeli Ministry of Security "is expected to approve the selling of 2nd and 3rd generation Merkava tanks, which were manufactured in Israel, in the eighties and nineties, and were decommissioned in recent years, to two foreign countries, one of which is in Europe." 

The Ministry, according to YNet, did not specify the names of the two countries that "agreed to purchase more than 200 used Israeli tanks, due to the sensitivity of the process." However, it was specified that the deal is on the brink of being signed and is expected to be signed within 3 months. 

Officials in the Israeli Ministry of Security said that "since some of the mechanical parts in these tanks are US-made, the engine in particular, the approval of the Ministry of Defense in Washington is required to implement the deal."

The tanks are estimated to be sold for tens of millions of dollars in total, an amount considered insignificant compared to the prices of Western-manufactured tanks.

Additional published details indicate that the deal will be divided into two phases, the first of which will include the older Merkava 2 tanks, and the other the Merkava 3 tanks that entered service in the 1990s and mainly served in the 188th Brigade.

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According to the Israeli security ministry, exports last year recorded an all-time high of $12.5 billion with Arab nations that normalized ties with the occupation, accounting for nearly a quarter of purchase contracts.

On Wednesday, the ministry which is responsible for overseeing and authorizing the exports of Israeli arms industries, stated that one-quarter of the contracts were for drone systems, with "missiles, rockets, and air defense systems" making up 19% of the deals. 

Citing figures, the ministry claims that total exports have doubled over the past nine years. The normalizing Arab countries were the main importers, with contracts jumping from $853 million (9%) in 2021 to $2.96 billion (24%) in 2022.  

The 2020 US-brokered normalization agreements (so-called Abraham Accords) witnessed "Israel" normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco.  

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