New agreement on exchange of classified data in the defence sector appears designed to accelerate arms shipments from Israel to Serbia.
Sasa Dragojlo
Benjamin Netanyahu with Aleksandar Vucic in Jerusalem, December 2014. Photo: EPA/BAZ RATNER/POOL.
The Serbian and Israeli defence ministries have signed a security agreement reportedly related to an expected shipment of military equipment from Israel to Serbia.
The Serbian parliament’s Security Board voted on Wednesday to back the “General security agreement on the exchange and mutual protection of classified data in the defence sector”, allowing for the provisional application of the agreement before it is formally adopted by parliament.
“An earlier start to the implementation of the proposed agreement would enable the earlier signing and entry into force of a contract related to the procurement of weapons and military equipment and the enhancement of the operational capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces,” the document, obtained by BIRN, says.
The expected procurement is most likely linked to the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. Last year, Elbit Systems sold Serbia advanced artillery systems and drones worth $335 million. In August 2025, another deal valued at $1.6 billion was signed for the delivery of drones, long-range missiles, electronic warfare systems and other military equipment to Belgrade.
BIRN recently reported that Serbia plans to produce drones with Elbit Systems on its territory, which President Aleksandar Vucic later confirmed.
In parallel, Serbian arms exports to Israel have skyrocketed 42-fold since 2023, reaching a value of 114 million euros last year, despite accusations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and calls from United Nations human rights experts to halt the delivery of deadly weapons to Israel.
Bogdan Radovanovic, MP of the opposition Green-Left Front, ZLF, who voted against the agreement at the Security Board session, told BIRN that defence ministry representatives did not explain why this was urgent, or whether it had anything to do with the arms deals with Elbit.
“It is still not clear to me what exactly ‘mutual protection’ entails, nor whether, for example, Mossad would now have the authority to ‘mutually protect’ shared classified data on our territory,” he said.
The security agreement emphasises that it will cover all security and defence matters, including contracts or joint ventures, as well as “sale of defence goods, or armament or military know-how or dual-use goods, software or technology”.
It applies to all entities involved in defence deals, whether private or public, as well as to any transfers of classified information between representatives, employees and consultants, regardless of their status.
The agreement also defines the security institutions responsible for its implementation – in Serbia, the Ministry of Defence, while in Israel it is the Directorate for Security for the Defence Establishment, DSDE, better known as Malbab, a body that also operates in an intelligence capacity, as it deals with obtaining technological information and intelligence in foreign countries.
The agreement mentions the formation of a joint working group and states that both countries have the right to send security expert delegations to visit each other’s territory.
Both countries agree that any potential disputes will not be publicly disclosed, and that any dispute or controversy “shall not be subject to any national or international tribunal or court, or any law.
“Each party undertakes to refrain from making any public disclosure of any kind relevant to the areas of mutual cooperation and activities under this agreement, unless otherwise agreed in writing by other party,” it underlines.
Radovanovic told BIRN that, “the timing for such a move is sensitive and it is unwise to conclude an agreement with the government of Israel, especially given that our existing regulations already provide for the confidentiality of data in the defence sector.”
