Israeli should build up its own arms industry and shed its reliance on the United States in view of the high demands of the war with Iran, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I greatly appreciate the support we received from our American friends, but we need to break free from dependency and build our own independent armament system," Netanyahu said in a video posted on X on Tuesday.
Israel had dealt a blow to Iran and its allies, but the conflict is not yet over and Israel's strength now will determine where it stands in 30 years, Netanyahu wrote.
The ultimate goal, he added, is: "To achieve independence from others, to build ever greater strength, to adopt ever greater technology, and to train ever greater generations of commanders."
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Israel is now the world's seventh-largest arms exporter.
Israel is seen as being particularly strong in the areas of drones, air and missile defence, electronic warfare, sensors, cyber capabilities and reconnaissance systems.
SIPRI calculates that the US accounted for approximately 68% of Israel's arms imports between 2021 and 2025.
Besides fighter jets and engines, munitions such as precision-guided bombs, air-to-surface munitions, various types of rockets and artillery ammunition play a crucial role.
