Even before the Israel – UAE peace agreement was signed, over the past year and a half the UAE government and the Israeli Ministry of Defense concluded a series of arms deals worth about $3 billion. This was reported by the Israeli TV Channel 12 on August 18.

According to the report, Israel sold to the Emirates mostly high-tech defense systems. The deals included surveillance and information collection systems, cybernetic systems, and border defense systems.

However, the channel also mentions that “not only defensive weaponry” was sold, and because of that, some of the deals still remain undisclosed.

The Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a committee that could veto arms deals. However, it was decided to approve the sale in return for the commitment of the Emirates not to transfer the systems and knowledge to third parties, TV Channel 12 reports.

This morning, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the agreement between Israel and the UAE included a secret clause on lifting of the US ban on sale of advanced weaponry to the UAE. And this does not concern the defense systems anymore.

According to the newspaper, the Emirates will receive from the United States F-35 aircraft and military drones worth tens of billions of dollars. It was also reported that the deal was put on hold because of Israel’s resistance – and now the US administration is going to give it a green light. However, it should be noted that this quite an old request from the UAE, which still has not been approved by the US Congress, points out TV Channel 12.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen has already refuted this publication, stating that “there is no change in policy against the sale of advanced weaponry to Arab states, which could undermine Israel’s military advantage”.