Berlin confirms sale of two submarines to Israel
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Aug 24, IRNA
Germany-Israel-Submarines
The German Economic Ministry announced Thursday that it had already signed a contract with Israel on July 6 for financing the sale of the submarines.
Manufactured by the German dockyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) for around 1 billion euros, the German government will foot one-third of the submarines' construction costs from its household budget, estimated at around 330 million euros.
The opposition Greens and the Left Party have repeatedly lashed out at the deal, saying it would lead to greater instability in the volatile Middle East region.
Germany donated three Dolphin-class submarines which can be modified to carry nuclear warheads, to Israel in 1999 and 2000.
Although Berlin is legally banned from exporting arms to crises regions, Germany has become one of Israel's major arms supplier.
German arms exports to Israel reached around 900 million US dollars between 1998 and 2001.
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