Born out of necessity; Israel's defence industry is somewhat unique in that its development did not benefit from a long historical process, unlike that of other countries. Indeed its roots cannot be found in traditional age-old arsenals or shipyards. In fact one can say that it was born with the nation, in 1948.

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Defence Industry Report

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Born out of necessity; Israel's defence industry is somewhat unique in that its development did not benefit from a long historical process, unlike that of other countries. Indeed its roots cannot be found in traditional age-old arsenals or shipyards. In fact one can say that it was born with the nation, in 1948.

Unlike other nations of the area, which were able to rely on external sources for the development of their armed forces and which, to a large extent, still do, Israel was very quickly faced with conflicts of interest among its possible suppliers, mostly from the Western world. Moreover, a number of its potential enemies could count on the Soviet Union as a lavish source of defence equipment. It must be said, however, that while Israel was initially able to equip with weapon systems from the Western world, its indigenous industry also benefited from the know-how of its population of immigrants which, comparatively at the time, were of a higher technical level than that of the average developing nation.

While Israel still today relies on the western world for its defence, in terms of materiel and diplomatic support, particularly from the United States, there had been times when the need to be non-dependent was felt. The result is an amazin...

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