Israel purchased submarines from Germany for double the price, Bennett hinted: a result of Netanyahu's conduct
Israeli officials claim that the purchase of three advanced submarines from Germany was approved this week without a choice after a significant delay in negotiations during the Netanyahu government.
Lightning Ravid
18/01/2022
Tuesday, 18 January 2022, 18:22 Updated: 19:37
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Last October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a farewell visit to Israel.
One of the most significant issues raised by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was the deal to purchase three advanced submarines from Germany that are due to replace in the coming years three older German submarines that are in the hands of the Navy.
An Israeli official who was directly involved in the matter said that not long before, Bennett had revealed two worrying details on the subject.
The first, the negotiations on the submarine deal were conducted during the Netanyahu government lazily and there is a significant delay in the schedule, which could lead to even if an agreement is signed, the submarine supply will be significantly late.
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This morning, Avi Barali reported in The Marker that in 2017, when the initial memorandum of understanding between Israel and Germany was signed on the subject of submarines, the amount of the deal was estimated at 1.8 billion euros.
As part of the understandings between the parties, the German government undertook to bear costs of 600 million euros of the value of the deal.
But in the last year, ThyssenKrupp has raised the price of the deal to 3.1 billion euros.
This means that the amount that Israel has to pay for the deal has doubled from 1.2 billion euros to 2.5 billion euros.
The senior Israeli official told Walla!
Because during Merkel's visit to Israel last October, Prime Minister Bennett raised the two issues with her.
Regarding the issue of delay in negotiations, Merkel did not know there was a problem at all. She undertook to get involved in the issue and even close the issue with a replacement. The Israeli official noted that Merkel kept her commitment and negotiations began to move faster following the visit.
Bennett and Merkel visit Israel in October (Photo: Paul, Yoav Dodkevich)
Bennett also raised with Merkel the issue of doubling the price of submarines. The senior Israeli official said that the prime minister had asked the chancellor to check whether Germany could increase its participation in the transaction price in line with the increase in prices. Merkel checked but the indications from the Germans were that this was not possible, certainly not in such a short period of time.
The senior Israeli official said that the understanding in Jerusalem was that if Israel insisted on the issue of the amount of the German government's grant, it would mean reopening the entire deal. This would greatly delay the deal and jeopardize its very existence.
Merkel also had a concern of her own. A second senior Israeli official revealed that the chancellor told Bennett during her visit to Israel that the German government was still concerned about suspicions of corruption in the previous submarine deal. The Chancellor even asked for guarantees on the matter. Bennett clarified to Merkel that this is a new government in Israel and that all the parties dealing with the issue are not related at all to the previous deal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the inauguration ceremony of the IDF's new submarine, Rahav.
January 2016 (Photo: Reuters)
A senior Israeli official said that the German concern about corruption in the previous submarine deal was what caused Bennett to delay the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the matter until all the details of the new submarine deal with Germany were closed.
Bennett did not want the decision on the Israel Commission of Inquiry to create background noise that would interfere with the closure of the new agreement with Germany.
On Sunday, the Ministerial Committee on Equipping Affairs convened to finally approve the agreement - including the new and more expensive price.
An Israeli official who attended the meeting said that Defense Ministry officials told the ministers that Israel found itself in a problematic situation - the German ThyssenKrupp shipyards had become a monopoly for the navy when it came to submarines.
They noted that this fact, along with the problematic schedule and the delay created, led to Israel having no choice but to agree to the terms of the deal, despite the price increase.
During a meeting of the Ministerial Committee, Prime Minister Bennett hinted that the delays in delaying the new submarine deal and the price increase were a result of his predecessor's conduct in office.
"It's neither good nor pleasant but it's the price for dropping this ball for several years," Bennett told ministers.
Naftali Bennett (Photo: Reuven Castro)
An Israeli official who attended the meeting noted that Bennett and the other ministers voted in favor of the deal on the understanding that there is no other alternative.
"This is one of the prices of the mess that was here during Netanyahu's time regarding the submarines," said the senior Israeli official.
"This is a terrible failure of Netanyahu. We paid a price for it."
A senior defense official confirmed this and said that it was part of a pattern that had existed in Netanyahu's tenure in recent years - both on the issue of submarines and on the issue of other defense procurement deals.
Today, the Knesset's Finance Committee approved an additional NIS 11.35 billion for the Ministry of Defense in favor of the submarine deal.
This amount will cover the more expensive price of the deal.
Later this week, Defense Ministry Director General Amir Eshel is expected to sign the deal with his German counterpart.
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Political-political
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Case 3000
Submarines
ThyssenKrupp
Angela Merkel
Benjamin Netanyahu
Naftali Bennett
