Completing $4.6 billion deal, missile defense system being operated by another country for 1st time; ministry chief: ‘We Israelis, descendants of Holocaust survivors, want to see Germany strong’

By EMANUEL FABIAN 

Nazi Germany tried to exterminate the Jews, now by the Grace of God Israel will help defend them. What a great picture of grace and healing. Rh

Israel on Wednesday handed over its Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system to the German Air Force in a ceremony at an airbase south of Berlin, completing a 4 billion euro ($4.6 billion) sale, the largest defense export deal in Israel’s history.

The completion of the sale, which was formally signed in September 2023, marked the first time the Arrow 3 system has been deployed beyond the borders of Israel and the United States, and the first time the advanced system was operated independently by another country.

The system was deployed at the Holzdorf Air Base in eastern Germany, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Berlin, with additional sites to follow.

From the Israeli side, the ceremony was attended by Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram; the chief of the ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development, Danny Gold; Israel Aerospace Industries CEO Boaz Levy; the director of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization, Moshe Patel; and other top officials.

German media reported that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Chancellor Friedrich Merz would not be attending the ceremony, but other German military and defense officials were present.

“We Israelis, descendants of Holocaust survivors, want to see Germany strong and prosperous, proud and leading in Europe and throughout the world. We deeply appreciate that Israeli systems are part of Germany’s renewed force build-up. Today’s handover marks only the beginning for Israel and Germany. Our cooperation will strengthen and deepen — whether in the air, on land, or in space.”

Our partnership is strategic, and Germany is Israel’s most important ally in Europe. Today, we mark another milestone in this relationship. Who could have imagined that only 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the Jewish state, through the technologies it develops, would help defend not only Germany but all of Europe. My family, who fled Germany on the eve of the Holocaust, could never have foreseen this,” Prosor said.