Germany warns Israel against attack on Iran
Germany warns Israel against attack on Iran – JPost – Defense.
BERLIN – Germany said on Tuesday it will sell Israel a sixth military submarine and shoulder part of the cost, although it warned its ally that any military escalation with Iran could bring incalculable risks.
German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he shared Israel’s fear of a nuclear-armed Iran and he was convinced Tehran aimed to make nuclear weapons, but he called for caution.
“I recommend all sides show urgent restraint, both in their rhetoric and their action. A military escalation would bring incalculable risks for Israel and the region, to the detriment of Israel,” he told reporters at a press conference in Berlin with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak.
Barak by contrast said all options regarding Iran should remain on the table, apart from containment. “To accept a nuclear Iran would be inconceivable and unacceptable to the whole world,” he said.
Germany, which after the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust is absolutely committed to Israel’s security, has championed international diplomatic campaigns to rein in Tehran. But Berlin has also criticized Israel’s settlement-building program.
“Israel can be sure of German solidarity in questions of its sovereign integrity and its existence … but it is important that Israel and its partners make moves towards a solution of the Middle East conflict,” de Maiziere said.
Israel operates three German-built Dolphin submarines, manufactured by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), a unit of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, and expects delivery of two more shortly. The vessels are considered a vanguard against foes like Iran.
Israel is threatening to take military action, with or without US support, if Iran is deemed to be continuing to defy pressure to curb its nuclear projects. Iran insists its nuclear energy program is purely non-military.
The Dolphins are small, diesel-powered submarines, designed for coastal patrols and equipped with 10 torpedo tubes.
Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies. These could be onboard the Dolphins.
Israel’s purchase of a sixth submarine had been widely expected, although discussions over the degree of Germany’s contribution drew out the process.
“A further boat will be delivered to Israel and there will be financial help. It is part of the budget and is therefore a public action,” de Maiziere said.
Germany’s state budget for 2012 foresees spending of 135 million euros for “defense systems for Israel”, 70 million euros of which will fall this year.
Germany delivered the first three submarines between 1999-2000, two of which it paid for outright. In 2005 Germany struck a deal with Israel on another two submarines, this time paying a contribution of 333 million euros for both, amounting to about a third of the cost.
WarSclerotic 
March 21, 2012 at 11:59 AM
The Germans ( like all others too ) never get it …….! ( which is especially tragic when looking at Germanys history related to the Jews …..)
The Germans like all others hope to be spared out from the islamic threat by offering Israel……
1 ) Israel will defeat the muslim agressors with the help of its God
2 ) The coward, selfish, money loving west will pay a heavy price for not standing with Israel ( actually they are already paying : financial crisis, social crisis ….)
”He who curses Israel will be cursed!”
March 21, 2012 at 3:29 PM
Although I read this blog nearly every day, I do not normally comment. But, today, I cannot restrain myself. There are two words that describe the German Defence Minister’s position — moral cowardice. He knows that Iran is developing nuclear weapons: he knows that should Iran acquire those weapons, it would pose a serious threat to both the Mideast and Europe (including his own country): he knows that the mullahs must somehow be stopped from acquiring those weapons: he probably knows that sanctions will not work or, if they could work, that they cannot work in time, partially because of his own country’s behaviour over the past decade or so.
Despite all that, he urges inaction out of fear of what might come. Rather than grapple with a dangerous issue and take on the burden associated with public office, he attempts to push the issue further away so that someone else will have to deal with it, knowing that the severity increases with time. That is moral cowardice.
And, by the way, I doubt that De Maziere is alone in his beliefs. Certainly other German leaders hold similar views, as do the silly men in charge in London and Paris. I am uncertain about Obama, but I suspect that he is similarly inclined to do nothing, although it is quite possible that his view is informed, not so much by cowardice, as by an utter disinterest in Israel’s fate and by Islamophilia.
March 21, 2012 at 6:29 PM
what you have to remember about the Germans is they only care about themselves as history shows,nato never relied on them in the cold war there plan was always to surrender