47.8 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024

Israel & Germany Sign $3.4 Billion Submarine Seal

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

Purchase of three new advanced submarines, made without Knesset approval, includes $936 reciprocal agreement for Germany to purchase Israeli defense technology.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Israel’s Defense Ministry announced it has reached an agreement with German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to purchase three new advanced submarines to the tune of some $3.4 billion, some $1.2 billion dollars more than the original price, raising suspicion of more corruption involved in the deal, as was reported by World Israel News.

“The procurement of three advanced, operational submarines joins a series of measures that we have taken in the past year in the process to equip and strengthen and IDF,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz in a statement.

Praising Germany for “its assistance in advancing the agreement and for its commitment to Israel’s security,” Gantz said the new submarines would help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge in the region, especially in the naval realm, according to the WIN report.

INS Rahav sets out from Germany. (Photo Credit: IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

Thanks to a trade partnership agreement signed by Israel and Germany in 2017, the German government will foot about one third of the bill. The first of the submarines is expected to be delivered to Israel within the next nine years.

WIN reported that the Defense Ministry added that Germany had signed a reciprocal deal to purchase some $963 million in products and technology from Israel’s defense industries, “which will yield knowhow, open up markets overseas, professional training, jobs, and technological development for the Israeli economy.”

The deal was signed without Knesset approval or advance knowledge of the purchase being made available to the public.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett defended the purchase despite the hike in price, saying it “significantly strengthens Israel’s national security. The purchase of the submarines will ensure continuity in our capabilities and strategic superiority for years to come.”

The Israel Navy announced in 2018 that the new submarines would be called Dakar in honor of the submarine that mysteriously disappeared as it sailed from the United Kingdom to Israel in January 1968 with 69 crew members onboard, as was reported by the JPost.

The agreement was signed at the Defense Ministry offices in Tel Aviv by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Amir Eshel and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems executive board director Dr. Rolf Wirtz.

The JPost reported that the first submarine will be delivered within nine years. The agreement also includes the construction of a training simulator in Israel, as well as the supply of spare parts.

Notably, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is the same manufacturer involved in the so-called “submarine affair,” according to the WIN report.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top defense officials are accused of engaging in nefarious business practices related to the purchase of submarines from the German manufacturer, including corruption and bribery.

The WIN report indicated that last week, Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that they would vote to establish a governmental commission of inquiry over the submarine affair. However, Hebrew-language media reported that the vote was delayed due to ongoing negotiations with the German manufacturer for the purchase of the new submarines.

On Sunday, however, the AP reported that Israel’s Cabinet approved the launch of a state investigation into an affair involving the purchase of submarines and other warships from Germany, a case that has embroiled close confidants of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The AP reported that the graft scandal surrounds a possible conflict of interest and bribery involving a $2 billion purchase of naval vessels from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp that implicated some of Netanyahu’s closest associates. The former prime minister was questioned, but not named as a suspect, in the scandal, referred to in Hebrew as “ Case 3000.”

The Cabinet authorized establishing a state investigation into the case by vote. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett abstained, according to the AP report.

“The processes for defense acquisitions in this government are clean of outside considerations,” Bennett said at the start of Sunday’s Cabinet meeting. “Our sole consideration is the security of Israel.”

Thanks to a trade partnership agreement signed by Israel and Germany in 2017, the German government will foot about one third of the bill. The first of the submarines is expected to be delivered to Israel within the next nine years. (Photo Credit: IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

The AP reported that the state commission of inquiry has sweeping authority to investigate and summon witnesses, and its recommendations typically guide government policy.

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel’s health minister and a Cabinet member, said the government investigation “is a critical step in the fight against corruption and is essential for the defense establishment,” as was reported by the AP.

The approval of a state investigation came more than a year after Defense Minister Benny Gantz authorized a probe into Netanyahu’s role in the affair.

The AP reported that Netanyahu’s Likud party responded to the announcement, saying the investigation should look into “how all those who for years opposed buying three more submarines suddenly approved the purchase,” and dismissed the allegations of wrongdoing as “idle political claims.”

(Sources: AP.com, WorldIsraelNews.com & JPost.com)

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -