PNN – While the Zionist regime has been killing in Gaza and trying to change the order in West Asia for more than 21 months, the rulers of some Muslim countries continue to trade with this regime and even expand it in some cases.
The relentless continuation of the genocide of innocent people in Gaza, the reckless military operations against resistance forces in Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria, and the launch of a direct invasion of Iranian soil, have created a situation that, perhaps more than at any other time since 1948, has revealed the ruthless, oppressive, and hegemonic nature of the Zionist regime. However, some governments of Muslim countries continue to trade extensively with this usurper entity, with the notion of creating interdependence and defining common interests with this criminal gang. If we put the Muslim countries that do business with Israel in a table, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Malaysia are at the top.
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According to statistics from the economic reference “Watchdog for Economic Composition” (OEC), in 2023, Turkey had the highest trade volume between Muslim states and Israel with $6.6 billion, of which $5.3 billion was Ankara’s exports and $1.3 billion, was imports from the occupied territories. This huge figure experienced a percentage decrease the following year, with the extensive political rhetoric of Erdogan and Turkish statesmen in completely suspending trade with Israel. According to Trading Economics, in 2024, total trade between Turkey and the occupation regime still amounted to more than $2.6 billion, which was conducted through third countries or with Palestine as a destination. Despite the aforementioned decrease, Turkey remains by a significant margin the top trading partner of the regime.
Next in line is the United Arab Emirates, which, according to OEC statistics, had more than $1.97 billion in trade with the Zionist regime in 2023. The UAE’s exports to the regime amounted to $1.4 billion and imports from it amounted to $575 million. The following year, as Israel’s bloody genocide in Gaza began, the UAE’s trade with the regime also experienced an 11% increase and expanded! It is worth noting that the UAE is one of the countries that also plays a key role in the US plan for managing the future of Gaza.
Egypt is the third country in this table, having traded with Israel for more than $1.9 billion in 2023, according to OEC statistics, of which a significant $1.7 billion was made up of the Zionist regime’s exports to Egypt and only $200 million of Egyptian exports to the regime. The figure for Egyptian exports to Israel more than doubled the following year!
The Republic of Azerbaijan ranks fourth in this list. Baku, one of Tel Aviv’s most important economic and military allies, did more than $1.55 billion in trade with the usurper regime in 2023. According to OEC statistics, of this figure, $1.4 billion is Azerbaijani exports and $150 million is Israeli exports. Of course, given the security and military interactions between these two governments, the actual figure for their bilateral trade is likely to be even higher, as Israel is the main supplier of weapons to the Republic of Azerbaijan and Baku, and the main supplier of oil to the criminal Israeli gang, which is converted into fuel for fighter jets in the regime’s refineries and enables the bombing of innocent people in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran. Moreover, more than 98% of Baku’s staggering $1.4 billion in exports to Israel is crude oil. Baku’s crude oil is one of the vital arteries of the Zionist regime for continuing military operations against innocent people in Muslim countries and even providing energy inside the occupied territories.