Syria used 1982 rockets of German origin against the Israeli armed forces in Lebanon war. According to Israeli military, the weapons had a "devastating effect"; at least seven Israeli tanks were destroyed.
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This is what the Berlin historian Hubert Leber found out in a study about which the "Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte" reports in their next issue (4/2019). Syria had acquired the "Milan" and "Hot" rockets in the 1970s. The Munich-based Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm and the French state-owned company Aérospatiale jointly produced the antitank weapons, and the export permit was issued by Paris.
When the secret arms shop opened in 1978, German diplomats claimed that Bonn had no knowledge of the planned sale to Syria, which is proven to be wrong.
Vote "without public noise"
Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) told the Israelis that the export permit was a decision of France that could not be influenced. Bonn has repeatedly vetoed arms exports from German-French production through Paris, for example to South Africa.
When Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (SPD) and French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing spoke about the export problem in 1978, Schmidt affirmed that the German government was "fully cooperative" and that one should only vote "without public noise".
Shortly before the Lebanon war in 1982, the Federal Government stated in its "Israel clause", which is still valid today, that "defense exports should also take into account the historical responsibility of the Germans towards the Jewish people".
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