Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel owes nearly $1 billion to its defense industry.

Officials said the Defense Ministry owes $810 million to Israeli defense contractors.

The officials said the debt was largely to the top three defense firms — Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense System, the latter the producer of the Iron Dome missile and rocket defense system.

“In the past year and a half, Rafael has produced Iron Dome on credit,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said.

In an address to the Institute for National Security Studies on Sept. 30, Ya’alon said his ministry’s debt stemmed from a shrinking defense budget. He said the ministry owes a large amount to manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles, heavily used during the war with Hamas in July and August 2014.

Much of the Israeli debt was linked to joint projects with the United States. The state-owned IAI and Rafael were prime contractors in the Arrow-3 ballistic missile defense system and Iron Dome, respectively. Congress has promised some $430 million for Iron Dome.

Some of the Israeli companies have reported the Defense Ministry debt. In July 2014, IAI said the ministry owed $249 million and demanded immediate repayment.

Officials said the Defense Ministry pledged to negotiate repayment agreements with the Israeli companies by 2015. They did not elaborate.

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