US greenlights Israel's $3.5B sale of Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany

Jack Dutton

Aug 17, 2023

Israeli soldiers walk near an Israeli Irone Dome defence system (L), a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the MIM-104 Patriot (C), and an anti-ballistic missile the Arrow 3 (R) during Juniper Cobra's joint exercise press briefing at Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base in central Israel, on February 25, 2016. - Juniper Cobra, is held every two years where Israel and the United States train their militaries together to prepare against possible ballistic missile attacks, as well as allowing the armies to learn to — Israeli soldiers walk near an Israeli Irone Dome defence system (L), a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the MIM-104 Patriot (C), and an anti-ballistic missile the Arrow 3 (R) during Juniper Cobra's joint exercise press briefing at Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base in central Israel, on Feb. 25, 2016. — GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

The biggest military export agreement in Israel’s history will proceed after the United States agreed to back Germany’s $3.5 billion purchase of the state-of-the-art Arrow 3 air-defense system.

Israel’s defense ministry announced in a statement Thursday that senior German and Israeli officials will sign a letter of commitment in the coming weeks for the system, which was developed jointly by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the United States Missile Defense Agency and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries.

Announcement of the signing ceremony follows the US State Department informing Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior defense ministry officials that Washington had approved the sale of the system, Gallant’s ministry said. The full $3.5bn contract will be signed by the end of the year, the ministry added, after final approval of the deal by the German and Israeli parliaments. Germany anticipates delivery of the system in the first quarter of 2025.

“This is a significant decision which will contribute to Israel’s force buildup and economy,” Gallant said in a statement to Bloomberg. “It is also particularly meaningful to every Jewish person that Germany is acquiring Israeli defense capabilities.”