Israel has worked for months to try and convince the United States to allow the sale of its Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany and other countries.
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The initial request for procurement was made by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a meeting with then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett approximately half a year ago.
Since then, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and other officials have contacted Washington several times seeking approval for the deal. It is needed as 80% of the system's development costs, an estimated $2.2. billion came from US taxpayer money. In addition, Arrow 3 includes technological components developed in the US. A price of a single unit is three million dollars.
Washington has so far failed to respond to Israel's request and as such, has neither confirmed nor vetoed the move. The assessment in Israel is that had there been no opposition to the move among government officials, the sale would have already been approved. On the other hand, given that Jerusalem's request has not been denied, some estimate that eventually, Washington will give the green light.
Scholz surprised Prime Minister Yair Lapid this week by speaking of Germany's desire to procure the defense system publicly during a joint press conference in Berlin.
Russian aggression in Ukraine necessitates a chance in our defense, he said, which is why I arranged a special budget of 100 billion euros for investments in the security of Germany and its neighbors. We also want to work with Israel as it has the powerful air defense system Arrow 3.
Lapid, in turn, said he could not speak about the procurement process publicly, but stressed that any democracy should have the ability to defend itself.
Bloomberg reported last week that Germany also looked into the possibility of procuring Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles produced by the US' Lockheed Martin Corporation. Although considered a competitor of Arrow 3, many say THAAD is inferior to the Israeli technology.
According to Bloomberg, Germany too recognizes this, which is why it opted for the Israeli system.
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