Thursday, December 1, 2011

Berlin 'will sell Israel sixth submarine'



Germany is reported to have agreed to provide Israel with a sixth Dolphin class submarine, supposedly capable of firing nuclear-tipped missiles at Iran, and pay one-third of the cost after it looked like Berlin was prepared to scrap the deal.

The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported Oct. 30 that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government was angry at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for approving construction of a Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem and failing to make concessions to achieve a peace deal with the Palestinians.

A German official in Berlin disclosed Wednesday that the Dolphin deal will go ahead, with the government setting aside $180 million in the 2012 budget to cover part of the cost.