UAE’s Commercial Exports to Israel Double, Official Data Shows

Official data revealed that the UAE doubled its commercial exports to Israel to occupy 81.4% of the total exports of Arab countries amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for ten months.

The data revealed that five Arab countries, including the UAE, boosted their trade with Israel during the period of conflict and aggression against Gaza. Some of these countries even doubled their trade volume compared to pre-war levels, despite widespread anger among the Arab public over the devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Data issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics on Arab exports to Israel show that the UAE alone accounted for 81.4% of the total volume of Arab countries’ exports to the Israeli occupation during the war, followed by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain.

The copies of the data cover eight months, from October 2023, “the date of the start of the war on Gaza,” until May 31, 2024.

Official Israeli data reveals that exports from the five Arab countries to Israel from October 2023 (when the Gaza war began) to the end of May 2024 totaled $2.017 billion. During this period, the total value of exports and imports between these Arab nations and Israel reached $2.841 billion.

Data analysis indicates that Arab exports to Israel rose by $77 million during the months of the Gaza war, compared to the same period in 2022 and 2023. From October 2022 to May 2023, the total exports from the five Arab countries to Israel amounted to $1.94 billion.

The volume of Israeli imports to the five Arab countries rose from the start of the Gaza war until the end of May 2024. The imports were valued at $825 million, compared to $674 million during the same months in 2022 and 2023, marking an increase of $151 million.

Official data show that the UAE is the Arab country that increased its trade relations with the Israeli occupation the most during the period of the war on Gaza.

During the Gaza war, the UAE exported more to Israel than it imported. From October 2023 to May 31, 2024, UAE exports to Israel totaled $1.641 billion. This represents an increase of $161 million compared to the $1.480 billion exported during the same months in 2022 and 2023.

While the value of exports to Israel during the same months of 2022 and 2023 was $1.480 billion, an increase of $161 million.

The data also indicated a gradual rise in UAE exports to Israel starting from the beginning of the Gaza war. October 2023 saw the lowest export volume at $135.1 million. The export value then increased, peaking at $252 million in January 2024 and $249.6 million in April 2024.

The UAE also topped the list of Arab countries in terms of the volume of Israeli imports it received during the war on Gaza. According to the data, Israeli imports to the UAE amounted to $373.6 million.

When considering the total exports and imports between the UAE and Israel during the Gaza war, the combined trade nearly matches the total trade volume between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv for the entire year of 2022. The data shows that the value of exports and imports between the UAE and Israel during the war period reached $2.014 billion.

While the volume of (non-oil) trade exchange between the UAE and Israel in 2022 reached $2.5 billion, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM). Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics do not indicate the type of UAE exports to Israel.

Analysis of official Israeli data reveals that the majority of exports and imports during the Gaza war originated from three Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. These nations, which signed normalization agreements with Israel in the latter half of 2020, refer to these agreements as the “Abraham Accords.”

According to the data, the value of these three countries’ exports to Israel during the war on Gaza reached $1.704 billion, out of $2.17 billion (the total volume of exports from the five Arab countries).

During the Gaza war, the UAE’s exports to Israel totaled $1.641 billion, followed by Bahrain at $53.2 million and Morocco at $10.1 million.

 In terms of imports, the three Arab nations collectively imported $485.7 million from Israel, with the UAE accounting for $373.6 million of that amount.

Since October 7, 2023, “Israel” has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has left at least 126,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.