By NNN-WAFA
Jerusalem : Israel has become the world’s fourth largest weapons exporter, shipping out arms worth more than US$4 billion so far this year.
Only the US, Russia and France export more arms than Israel, said the Israeli ministry’s director general Pinchas Bucharis in a statement.
New legislation to come into effect by the end of December will tighten control of Israeli companies and agents that sell arms or security-related equipment.
Israel’s defence ministry is bombarded with around 5,000 requests for export authorisation each year, and around 70,000 requests to renew permits to export weapons or security-related material, Bucharis said.
The US is the biggest buyer of Israeli arms, followed by Asian countries, Europe and Latin America. The weapons industry employees 40,000 people in Israel.