Israel has become the world's fourth largest weapons exporter, shipping out arms worth more than four billion dollars so far this year, the defence ministry said on Monday.

Only the United States, Russia and France export more arms than Israel, said the ministry's director general Pinchas Bucharis in a statement.

New legislation to come into effect by the end of December will tighten control of Israeli companies and agents that sell arms or security-related equipment.

Israel's defence ministry is bombarded with around 5,000 requests for export authorisation each year, and around 70,000 requests to renew permits to export weapons or security-related material, Bucharis said.

The United States is the biggest buyer of Israeli arms, followed by Asian countries, Europe and Latin America.

The weapons industry employes 40,000 people in Israel.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 11 Aralık 2007, 14:47