Why Is Israel Spending $500m to Protect Gas Facilities Close to Home? - HAARETZ

Aug 02, 2018 6:04 AM
Hagai Amit
The navy is ordering ships designed to protect drilling platforms far from the coast, even though they will be just 10 kilometers from the shore

The debate under way over how far offshore the natural gas production platforms should be located raises another question about why Israel’s navy is spending 430 million euros ($502 million) to buy four corvettes from Germany.

If plans to locate the facility 10 kilometers from Israel’s coast go ahead as planned, despite protests of residents near Dor Beach concerned about the environmental impact, the Israel Navy will be equipped with a fleet of expensive firepower completely disproportionate to the threats it will face.

The platform, which is being built in Texas and is due to arrive in about six months, will service the giant Leviathan field when it goes into production.

Israel Navy gearing up for its latest mission – protecting Mediterranean gas rigs - HAARETZ

March 09, 2017
Gili Cohen 

It will take two and half years for custom-designed missile boats being built in Germany to arrive. Until then, the navy is not resting on its laurels regarding this strategic economic asset.

For the sailors serving on the Israel Navy’s missile corvettes, the latest revelations concerning the bid for purchasing drilling rig-protecting boats, associated with the procurement of new submarines, have brought about a surprising turn of events. The combat mission of these seamen, which usually remains secretive and submerged, has become an open topic of conversation.

Egypt's Sisi and Germany's Merkel to inaugurate megaproject in Egypt - AHRAM ONLINE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah El-Sisi (R) in Berlin, May 2015 (Reuters)

Thursday 2 Mar 2017
Mahmoud Aziz

The two leaders will inaugurate the first phase of a Siemens project to build three new power plants in Egypt

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to arrive in Cairo Thursday on a two-day visit to meet with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, and to inaugurate with her counterpart the first phase of a Siemens megaproject.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a press conference shortly after their meeting.

Sisi and Merkel will inaugurate the first phase of a project, run by the German company Siemens, to build three new power plants in Egypt.

Israel's Navy Sub Scandal Widens; Iranian Ties And Deal-Making Questioned - FORBES

The German-made INS Rahav, the fifth Israeli Navy submarine, arrives at the military
port of Haifa on January 12, 2016. In September 2015, Israel received delivery of the
fourth Dolphin 2 class submarines from Germany. A third of the cost was funded by
Germany as part of its military aid to Israel. The submarines, the most sophisticated in
Israel's fleet, can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
(Photo JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

DEC 2, 2016 @ 11:05 PM
Tim Daiss

In a convoluted development intersecting the energy sector and Middle Eastern geopolitics, media in Israel is reporting that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has ordered a police probe into allegations that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, David Shimron, used his close relationship with the Israeli leader to influence him to award a $1 billion contract to build three navy submarines to ThyssenKrupp, a German multinational conglomerate with a 4.5% ownership stake held by the Iranian government.

The subs will be used to protect Israel’s massive offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean. According to a report on Friday in The Times of Israel, Shimron was a representative of the company in Israel. The inquiry will also focus on a separate 2014 Defense Ministry tender for navy ships, also involving ThyssenKrupp.