Leaked internal documents reviewed by Haaretz suggest Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems held discussions with the United Arab Emirates over the potential sale of strategic drones and other advanced weapons systems worth an estimated $1.3 billion.
The newspaper said the documents were published by the hacker group Handala, which claims it gained access to the correspondence through the personal Gmail account of an Elbit Systems employee.
According to the report, an internal memo indicates that Israel's Ministry of Defence approved the potential sale of Hermes 900 reconnaissance drones and SkyStriker loitering munitions to the UAE.
Following the Houthi attacks on Abu Dhabi in March 2022, the Emirati side reportedly requested six Hermes 900 systems, with later discussions focusing on increasing the order to 15 systems valued at approximately $1.3 billion.
Haaretz further reported that in March 2023, Elbit Systems offered the UAE the Hermes 650 drone around a year before its official unveiling. The leaked documents also include a file titled "SIGINT Wish List," requesting four Elbit electronic intelligence aircraft, along with cybersecurity and electronic warfare systems, as well as visual-intelligence capabilities.
Elbit Systems declined to comment on its relationships with customers, saying only that “the mentioned data does not reflect the firm's business reality.”
By Jeyhun Aghazada
