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It's very easy to wrap your head around - Germany is Israel's main arms supplier after the US. Germany accounted for 30% of Israel's arms imports between 2019

It's very easy to wrap your head around - Germany is Israel's main arms supplier after the US. Germany accounted for 30% of Israel's arms imports between 2019 and 2023. In 2023 it accounted for 47% of Israel's total imports of conventional arms. Between October 2023 and May 2025, Germany greenlighted the delivery of weapons and military equipment worth €485m to Israel They since stopped the export of weaponry 'used in gaza' but it's naive in the extreme to accept assurances from the incumbent Israeli government to the contrary. https://news.sky.com/story/germany-is-one-of-israels-strongest-allies-so-stopping-export-of-arms-that-could-be-used-in-gaza-is-huge-shift-13408611 https://news.sky.com/story/germany-is-one-of-israels-stronge... N.B. Israel continues to illegally carry weapons through Irish airspace, and kindly refers our government agency to El Al's Legal department on inquiry. https://www.ontheditch.com/israels-national-airline-department-transport/ https://www.ontheditch.com/israels-national-airline-departme...

danbruc 1y ago
That does not seem like nearly enough money to make a bad policy decision because of the money and that policy is probably much older than the arms deals.
- alephnerd 1y ago
  > That does not seem like nearly enough money Because that's not the reason (Israel primarily imports weaponry and munitions from the US and India [0]). The issue is the other way around. A significant portion of Germany's ground AD and defensive systems are sourced from Israel- most notably the Arrow 3 missile shield [1] deal that recently went through. Germany is heavily dependent on Israeli cybersecurity companies as well [2]. Germany is also subsidizing Arrow 3 sales to Ukraine [3]. Protecting your nations citizens always trumps morality, and in Germany's case, it's become even more critical after what happened in Poland this week. [0] - https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs17/import/isr/show/199301.199305.199306.199302.199303/2023 https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs17/import/isr/show... [1] - https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/06/09/israel-enters-final-phase-to-deliver-arrow-3-missile-shield-to-germany/ https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/06/09/israel-... [2] - https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-seeks-israeli-partnership-cyberdefence-plans-cyber-dome-2025-06-29/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-s... [3] - https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/israel-sells-missiles-to-germany-as-ukraine-war-fuels-demand-for-weapons-b32b685d?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAjMWTMaqyTnW9sGUWDeYndDj3_dU158DX8N6ED161JPTXbjcK0QUwqK&gaa_ts=68c2d38d&gaa_sig=NlBM1BTsi6zhpH5eG4KZ7s-tGsiPd45EO2aPKS6di5b9IGvFStrG66lw8Rx-c1Ro-D-KAkz3cIEvP_d4rx5RiQ%3D%3D https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/israel-sells-missiles-to-ge...
  - parthdesai 1y ago
    Yeah, but Europeans countries never miss a chance to lecture other countries about morality.
    - alephnerd 1y ago
      Politicians will always politick, but they do not tend to be the ones who make policy in a parliamentary system like Germany of Ireland. Ireland basically has no army, and is entirely dependent on the UK for it's defense. As such, their politicans are free to say whatever (as long as it is not against the UK) because it's not going to come back and bite them in the behind. That said, that's now changing as the UK is trying to renegotiate the deal [0][1] [0] - https://www.thejournal.ie/british-ireland-defence-agreement-house-of-lords-criticism-6808245-Sep2025/ https://www.thejournal.ie/british-ireland-defence-agreement-... [1] - https://www.irishpost.com/news/britain-and-ireland-to-renew-defence-pact-amid-rising-security-threats-297414 https://www.irishpost.com/news/britain-and-ireland-to-renew-...
      - donalhunt 1y ago
        The Irish strategy is to make the pubs too attractive for any attacker to bother with armed conflict. ;) The Irish position should not be underestimated. It tends to be a bellweather for what others will align with in the future. Ireland tends to use it's soft power very effectively at the global table.
        parthdesai 1y ago
        Also, Ireland knows a thing or two about what it is like to be oppressed
        cooloo 1y ago
        [flagged]
        alephnerd 1y ago

danbruc 1y ago

That does not seem like nearly enough money to make a bad policy decision because of the money and that policy is probably much older than the arms deals.

alephnerd 1y ago
> That does not seem like nearly enough money Because that's not the reason (Israel primarily imports weaponry and munitions from the US and India [0]). The issue is the other way around. A significant portion of Germany's ground AD and defensive systems are sourced from Israel- most notably the Arrow 3 missile shield [1] deal that recently went through. Germany is heavily dependent on Israeli cybersecurity companies as well [2]. Germany is also subsidizing Arrow 3 sales to Ukraine [3]. Protecting your nations citizens always trumps morality, and in Germany's case, it's become even more critical after what happened in Poland this week. [0] - https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs17/import/isr/show/199301.199305.199306.199302.199303/2023 https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs17/import/isr/show... [1] - https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/06/09/israel-enters-final-phase-to-deliver-arrow-3-missile-shield-to-germany/ https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/06/09/israel-... [2] - https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-seeks-israeli-partnership-cyberdefence-plans-cyber-dome-2025-06-29/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-s... [3] - https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/israel-sells-missiles-to-germany-as-ukraine-war-fuels-demand-for-weapons-b32b685d?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAjMWTMaqyTnW9sGUWDeYndDj3_dU158DX8N6ED161JPTXbjcK0QUwqK&gaa_ts=68c2d38d&gaa_sig=NlBM1BTsi6zhpH5eG4KZ7s-tGsiPd45EO2aPKS6di5b9IGvFStrG66lw8Rx-c1Ro-D-KAkz3cIEvP_d4rx5RiQ%3D%3D https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/israel-sells-missiles-to-ge...
- parthdesai 1y ago
  Yeah, but Europeans countries never miss a chance to lecture other countries about morality.
  - alephnerd 1y ago
    Politicians will always politick, but they do not tend to be the ones who make policy in a parliamentary system like Germany of Ireland. Ireland basically has no army, and is entirely dependent on the UK for it's defense. As such, their politicans are free to say whatever (as long as it is not against the UK) because it's not going to come back and bite them in the behind. That said, that's now changing as the UK is trying to renegotiate the deal [0][1] [0] - https://www.thejournal.ie/british-ireland-defence-agreement-house-of-lords-criticism-6808245-Sep2025/ https://www.thejournal.ie/british-ireland-defence-agreement-... [1] - https://www.irishpost.com/news/britain-and-ireland-to-renew-defence-pact-amid-rising-security-threats-297414 https://www.irishpost.com/news/britain-and-ireland-to-renew-...
    - donalhunt 1y ago
      The Irish strategy is to make the pubs too attractive for any attacker to bother with armed conflict. ;) The Irish position should not be underestimated. It tends to be a bellweather for what others will align with in the future. Ireland tends to use it's soft power very effectively at the global table.
      - parthdesai 1y ago
        Also, Ireland knows a thing or two about what it is like to be oppressed
        cooloo 1y ago
        [flagged]
      - alephnerd 1y ago