Occupied Jerusalem: Israel bought four German-made corvette warships on Monday to allegedly help secure the Mediterranean gas rigs it controls, with Berlin heavily subsidising the deal, the Israeli regime’s Defence Ministry said on Monday.
The ships, worth $480 million (Dh1,763 million, will be built by Thyssen Krupp and delivered within five years, providing significantly more fire power to the regime’s navy.
The German government will pay 115 million euros (Dh471 million) towards the cost. As part of its perceived atonement for the Nazi Holocaust, Germany is committed to Israel’s security and has often helped pay in the past for the cost of military equipment such as submarines.
Thyssen Krupp also committed to buy 700 million shekels (Dh741 million) worth of Israeli goods under the contract.
“The deal signed today is an event of the utmost significance that dramatically upgrades the navy’s capabilities of defending the State of Israel’s strategic sites in the gas realm,” Defence Ministry director-general Dan Harel said.
Israel’s economy would also be buoyed, he added.
The regime controls huge and mostly untapped gasfields that cover some 23,000 square km of sea — more than the territory on land that it claims.
Israeli planners see possible seaborne or rocket threats to gas facilities from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, making expanding the naval presence a priority for them.
Israel’s navy chief, Admiral Ram Rotberg, said in a separate statement that the corvettes would be classed as “Saar 6” missile boats — suggesting a major improvement in capabilities.
According to the navy website, its biggest warships are currently “Saar 5” missile boats. Israel’s Channel 2 TV news said the Saar 6 vessels would be significantly larger, with twice the operational range of the Saar 5 class.
