Israel-Gulf trade flourishes in two years of Abraham Accords
Bahrain and the UAE expect that the scope of bilateral trade with Israel will continue to grow significantly in coming years.
Sept. 15 will mark two years for the Abraham Accords, which normalized Israel's ties with the Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and later Sudan. Changing the regional balance of power and alliances, these agreements also opened the doors to relations with other Arab states, at least indirectly.
More so, apart from their strategic significance, from day one, these accords affected the region economically. Recent reports indicate that Israel’s trade relations with Gulf countries are flourishing.
Trade figures have yet to reach the levels of Israel’s major partners in North America, Europe, and the Far East. Nevertheless, they are increasing rapidly.
According to Israel’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, trade between the countries reached $1.4 billion in the last half year alone — without services, which are estimated to add another $200-300 million to the total, or military exports, whose figures are classified. Trade between the countries reached about $1 billion in all of 2021, or $1.2 billion with services. According to Israel’s ambassador to the UAE, Amir Hayek, trade between the two countries will reach $5 billion in just three years.
