Egypt-Germany submarine deal on track despite Israeli objections

While Cairo said it had succeeded over the past year to offset Israel’s efforts to block delivery of German submarines to Egypt based on a deal signed in November of last year, Egyptian sources close to the deal confirm that the agreement was still on track and that Germany would deliver two 902-Class submarines over Israeli objections.

Germany’s ministers of defence and foreign affairs spoke on the issue last week. The deal was a talking point during a visit by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Israel after Tel Aviv complained about the deal.

Both Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak urged Berlin to freeze the contract out of concern that Egypt’s navy would establish a naval defence platform that could be used against Israel in a future confrontation.

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