Shady Submarine Deal Ties Netanyahu to Another Corrupt Scandal, Threatens Israeli-Germany Ties

[paleologos]

...or how German weapons manufacturers still make money out of Holocaust survivors.

The gist of the story is that Germany promised to compensate Holocaust survivors (as if that can be compensated for) but instead of paying them money they decided to pay "in kind" and give U-boats to Israel.
It turned out the Israeli Navy did not want them because they did not need them but Bibi pushed hard for it, even sacking a minister of defence in the process.

In the Haaretz

An interview with Shir Hever about the story here.


Do you really think things like that would even be possible without any involvement from "deep state" factors from within Germany?

[sumskilz]

I guess the question I have is why our "expert" with the insider scoop is a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin with a fake Hebrew name who writes for the Electronic Intifada. Well maybe that is his real name, but who the names their kid Song Friend?

According to Song Friend:

And, instead of paying those Holocaust survivors, the German state would give Israel a discount on these submarines... But the whole idea of taking money from Holocaust survivors, that has not really been reported by the Israeli media.

Because it's BS?

[Phier]

Because it's BS?

I'm always shocked that Israel has a self destructive left wing like the far more comfortably safe US and EU. After reading the Haaretz it might as well be the failing New York Times.

[paleologos]

I guess the question I have is why our "expert" with the insider scoop is a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin with a fake Hebrew name who writes for the Electronic Intifada. Well maybe that is his real name, but who the names their kid Song Friend?

According to Song Friend:

Because it's BS?

Am I to understand that the first part of the argument here is that "because the analyst writes for the Electronic Intifada then everything he says must be biased against Israel"

while the second part of the argument is "because Israeli media have not mentioned it, then "it must be a lie"?

In any case I was wondering about the degree the whole thing may have been facilitated by the German government.

[sumskilz]

Am I to understand that the first part of the argument here is that "because the analyst writes for the Electronic Intifada then everything he says must be biased against Israel"

while the second part of the argument is "because Israeli media have not mentioned it, then "it must be a lie"?

Nah, I'm saying he doesn't really know anything that hasn't been reported in the Israeli media and he's just talking nonsense to forward his political agenda that isn't particularly relevant to the issue. His argument doesn't even make sense. If they offer to sell to Israel at a discount, that may be a gesture of good will, but they still make a profit. It's not as if the equivalent to the discount would have been given to Holocaust survivors. That's just a silly appeal to emotion. Plenty in the Israeli media are unfriendly to Netanyahu, so it's not as if reasonable criticism regarding the potential conflict of interest hasn't come out.

Germany did subsidize Israel's first three Dolphin class subs, and I'm sure they knew full well that they would be nuclear armed. It was almost certainly not a coincidence that Germany decided to do this after it came to light that German companies had partly facilitated Saddam's ballistic missile and chemical weapons programs. You know, the guy who named his nuclear program after the month in which the Babylonians destroyed the Kingdom of Judah. It seems the Germans at that time might have felt it was the right thing to do help give Israel the deterrence to prevent any potential second Holocaust.