Report: German Export Licences to Israel Rose Sharply, Submarine Deal in Focus
A single Al Jazeera account, not yet independently confirmed, points to a jump in licences from Europe's most cautious arms exporter
By Solomon "Customs" Bridges
For eighty years Germany has treated arms sales to Israel as a matter apart — weighed, debated, often slowed by the shadow of its own history. That caution has not disappeared. But according to a report by Al Jazeera, German export licences for military equipment bound for Israel have jumped sharply in recent months, with a submarine program at the center of the increase.
How sharp is sharp? Al Jazeera's report does not supply a figure or percentage, and neither vessel class, contract value, nor delivery timeline for the submarine program are detailed in the available reporting. This account of a German licence surge for arms exports to Israel rests on a single Al Jazeera report; the Press could not independently confirm the scale of the increase against German government export data. Readers should weigh the claim accordingly — this is one outlet's account of a politically sensitive matter, not a verified figure from Berlin's own records.
Germany has supplied Israel with submarines under a cooperation arrangement that predates the current conflict, a relationship Berlin has long cast as central to Israel's deterrent posture in the eastern Mediterranean. Successive German governments, of the left and the right, have described backing for Israel's security as a Staatsräson — a reason of state, not merely a policy preference.
Al Jazeera's report frames the reported licence increase as the latest turn in a balancing act Berlin has performed since October 2023: public calls for restraint in Gaza paired with continued material support for Israel's military. That is the outlet's framing, not a claim this desk can independently verify.
A licence count, if the reported jump holds up, is still a blunt instrument. It does not say which ships are moving or when they will arrive. What can be said with confidence, independent of the disputed figures: Germany has an established submarine relationship with Israel, and for towns near Kiel and Bremen where these vessels are built, that relationship means jobs. Whether the reported surge is real, and how large it is, is a question this newsroom could not settle on the sourcing available.
Nothing happens 'over there' anymore.
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera. This account rests on a single source and has not been independently confirmed.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."