The former German leader, who was Israel's most important ally in Europe during her long tenure spanning 4 terms from 2005 to 2021, toured the Nova site Wednesday alongside Gail Shoresh, from the Dvora Forum that promotes women's equality, receiving explanations about sexual atrocities committed by Hamas some two years ago during the massive attack on the Gaza border communities, with German Ambassador Steffen Seibert sharing her visit on social media. Nahal Oz resident Amir Tibon also shared with Merkel his unique ordeal, retelling the story of how he managed to survive after terrorists invaded his kibbutz and started slaughtering and kidnapping residents.

Oct 7 revisited: Angela Merkel met Gail Shoresh of Project Dvora at the Nova site who explained about sexual violence on that terrible day. And @amirtibon showed her the room in Nahal Oz where he and his family hid for 10 hours and survived. pic.twitter.com/gDLbc3kCRs

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) November 12, 2025

"Oct 7 revisited: Angela Merkel met Gail Shoresh at the Nova site who explained about sexual violence on that terrible day," Seibert wrote.

"Tibon showed her the room in Nahal Oz where he and his family hid for 10 hours and survived," he continued. Tibon, who lives in Nahal Oz with his wife and children, was rescued after his father, former IDF Major General Noam Tibon, rushed to the south with his wife to help fight against the Hamas terrorists who had invaded his kibbutz and other locations in the area. 

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel received an honorary degree from @WeizmannScience, praising Israeli and German scientists who were the first to build new bridges between our peoples after the Shoah. Amid anti-scientific tendencies worldwide she spoke for science-based politics. pic.twitter.com/smSGbhcwcN

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) November 11, 2025

During her visit this week , Weizmann Institute of Science conferred an honorary degree upon Merkel, who delivered remarks praising Israeli and German scientists as the first to construct new bridges between the two peoples following the Holocaust, the German Ambassador wrote. Speaking amid worldwide anti-scientific tendencies, the former chancellor advocated for science-based politics during the ceremony, Seibert noted.

The beauty of „attosekundenschnelle Rastertunnelmikroskopie" - former Chancellor Merkel firmly in her element visiting @TechnionLive in Haifa - world class science flourishing through diversity and international cooperation. pic.twitter.com/pKMOOJdv2p

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) November 11, 2025

The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa received a visit from Merkel as well, with the German Ambassador describing world-class science flourishing through diversity and international cooperation at the institution. The former chancellor appeared firmly in her element exploring "attosekundenschnelle Rastertunnelmikroskopie" during the tour, according to Seibert's social media posts.

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German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday he had reached a coalition deal to form a new government that will try to modernize Europe's largest economy and bring the curtain down on the Angela Merkel era.

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Scholz's center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the ecologist Greens, and the libertarian Free Democrats (FDP) want to accelerate the transition to a green economy and digitization while maintaining fiscal discipline, according to a 177-page agreement.

The alliance – named a traffic-light coalition after the three parties' respective colors – has a majority in the lower house of parliament and hopes the government will be sworn in early next month after the parties ratify the coalition pact.

The first alliance at a federal level between the ideologically disparate parties will end 16 years of Merkel-led conservative government, marking a new era for relations with Europe and the rest of the world.

Merkel leaves big shoes to fill. She has navigated Germany and Europe through multiple crises and been a champion of liberal democracy in the face of rising authoritarianism worldwide.

Her critics say she has managed rather than solved problems and leaves her successor tough decisions on many fronts.

Scholz's incoming government faces immediate challenges, with Europe grappling with the fallout from Brexit, a crisis on the European Union's border with Belarus, and surging COVID-19 cases.

While Germany's electoral campaign was largely focused on domestic issues, the coalition pact shed light on the next government's foreign policy priorities.

The parties agreed to strengthen the EU's economic and monetary union and signaled an openness to reform the bloc's fiscal rules, also known as the Stability and Growth Pact.

They also agreed Germany would remain part of NATO's nuclear sharing agreement, a move that will prevent a rift in the Western military alliance at a time of rising tensions with Russia.

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This week's diplomatic calendar highlighted the difference between this year's foreign policies and last year's.

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On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hosted outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jerusalem for a farewell visit. Although Israel's media and foreign policy elites have long presented Merkel as a friend of Israel, for much of her 16-year tenure in office, she has advanced anti-Israel and even anti-Jewish policies. Under her leadership, Germany has given more money to anti-Israel political groups, including groups involved in boycotting Israel, than any other EU-member government. 

With Merkel's support and diplomatic protection, an illegal settlement was established in Judea. Khan al-Ahmar, an illegal Bedouin encampment, was built on state land at a strategic chokepoint which directly threatens both Israel's Highway 1 and the community of Kfar Adumim. But even Israel's all-powerful Supreme Court justices, who ordered Khan el-Ahmar's dismantlement more than two years ago, were no match for Merkel. 

Then too, with Merkel at the helm, Germany has voted lockstep with the Palestinians on virtually every anti-Israel measure at the United Nations.

Then there is Iran. Since she entered office in 2005, Merkel has assiduously maintained Germany's position as Iran's largest trading partner in Europe. She has opposed sanctions and backed her colleagues as they made light of Iran's human rights violations, its nuclear proliferation and sponsorship of terrorism. She has been an indomitable supporter of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, despite the fact that it provides Iran with an open road to a nuclear arsenal. She was unmoved by voluminous evidence of Iran's bad faith negotiations and systematic, material breaches of the limitations the 2015 deal placed on its nuclear activities. 

Merkel led the EU's opposition to then-President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal in 2018. She spent years undermining the US's strategy of "maximum pressure" on Iran. Arguably in breach of the law of nations, Merkel blocked the US effort to compel implementation of the so-called "snapback sanctions." Under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which anchors the 2015 deal, the sanctions the Security Council placed on Iran in response to its breaches of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty were suspended. Resolution 2231 stipulates that a party to the resolution could order the automatic reinstatement of the sanctions ("snapback") if it found that Iran was violating the deal. Merkel led the EU-3 in arguing absurdly that the US withdrawal from the deal meant it lacked the authority to reinstate the sanctions. Even if this claim were true – which it was not – it begged the question, why didn't Germany reimpose the sanctions? The answer was obvious: Merkel didn't mind Iran's violations. 

Despite Merkel's commitment to policies that caused it strategic harm, Israel went out of its way to pretend she was a "friend." The rationale was clear. A crisis in German-Israeli relations would harm Israel far more than it would harm Germany. Germany is Israel's largest trading partner in Europe and the most powerful member of the EU. An angered Berlin could devastate Israel's economy and precipitate a brutal political and economic offensive from Brussels. So Israeli leaders cooed over our "friend Angela" each time she said something mournful about the Holocaust. 

But whereas putting a happy face on Merkel's hostility made sense while she was in power, doing so now, when she is a lame duck, is hard to justify. Bennett advanced no discernable Israeli interest when he referred to Merkel's Germany as "Europe's moral compass." Indeed, he harmed the country. By praising a woman who undermined and subverted Israel at every turn, Bennett signaled to her successors that they have only to gain from maltreating Israel. 

Merkel made a quick departure on Sunday night. And that made sense. She wouldn't have wanted to be in Jerusalem on Monday, because on Monday Israel marked the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords. Merkel was one of the greatest opponents of the historic peace accords between Israel and the Arab states of Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Sudan. She and her EU colleagues could barely constrain their rage when Trump announced them. Berlin and Brussels both boycotted the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House. 

In his remarks at the Knesset event marking the anniversary of the Abraham Accords, Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "So long as they said you can't make peace with the Arab world without peace with the Palestinians, we couldn't make peace. We broke the Palestinian veto and brought four historic peace agreements, the Abraham Accords."

Who were "they" who insisted on giving the Palestinians veto power over Arab-Israeli peace? Among others, "they" were Merkel and her colleagues in the EU and the Democrats, who also boycotted the White House signing ceremony. Their desire to maintain "the Palestinian veto" over Arab-Israeli peace was never a simple matter of priorities. It was a fundamental conviction grounded in antisemitism. 

In granting the Palestinians a veto over Israeli-Arab peace, Merkel and her colleagues effectively rejected Israel's right to exist. All Palestinian leadership factions from the PLO to Hamas reject Israel's right to exist. All are committed to Israel's physical destruction. The Palestinians justify their genocidal position by denying that the Jews are a nation and their historic ties to the Land of Israel. 

By placing the keys to peace in the hands of antisemites sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state, Merkel and colleagues effectively said the Arab war against Israel is justified and should be maintained indefinitely. In other words, they said Israel has no right to exist.  

This brings us to Lapid and Bennett, who slobbered over Merkel on Sunday. The Lapid-Bennett government has an uneasy relationship with the Abraham Accords for two reasons. First, they don't like the deals because their nemesis Netanyahu made them. And second, most members of the government, which is controlled by leftists and the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Islamist party, want to give the Palestinians their veto back.

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But for all their opposition to the Abraham Accords, Lapid, Bennett and their colleagues are stuck. As Israelis, they can't oppose real peace with four Arab states. 

Since they came to power in June, Lapid, Bennett and their colleagues have dealt with their Abraham Accords quandary by denying the strategic significance of the peace with the Arab states of Africa and the Persian Gulf while effectively restoring Israel's pre-Abraham Accords appeasement-based foreign policy. 

In Bennett's case, this has meant reaching out to Jordan. Israel's relations with Jordan have been wretched for years. The crisis in relations is a function of King Abdullah's animosity and Netanyahu's refusal to kowtow to him. In stark contrast to his father, the late King Hussein, Abdullah has embraced the PLO. 

Abdullah supports Palestinian terrorism and shelters Palestinian terrorists. He is PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas' full partner in waging political war against Israel on the international stage. And like Abbas, Abdullah has filled Jordan's media, which he controls, with antisemitic incitement. Abdullah did everything he could to scuttle and subvert the Abraham Accords. He even denied Netanyahu's request to fly through Amman for an official visit to the UAE earlier this year. 

Then there is Iran. In recent years, Abdullah has been coyly cozying up to Iran while enjoying US military protection. This week, Abdullah's regime media played up his foreign minister's phone call with his Iranian counterpart. 

Bennett's outreach to Abdullah is entirely devoid of pressure on the Hashemite monarch to reverse his anti-Israel course. Bennett hasn't urged Israel's ostensible peace partner to follow in the footsteps of the Abraham Accords member nations and normalize Jordan's relations with Israel. He hasn't demanded that Abdullah honor the US request to extradite Sbarro pizzeria bomber Alham Tamimi. Tamimi, who has made a career out of gloating over her murder of 15 people, including eight children, at the suicide bombing she orchestrated 20 years ago, is living the good life in Amman under King Abdullah's protection. Bennett hasn't demanded that Abdullah stop wooing Iran. 

Ignoring all of Abdullah's hostile actions, Bennett has blamed the crisis in Jordan-Israel relations on Netanyahu. By blaming Netanyahu, Bennett has made "fixing" Israel's ties with Jordan a simple matter of bowing to every Jordanian demand. Tuesday, Bennett's government praised a "historic" breakthrough in ties: Israel agreed to double the quantity of water it gives Jordan at cost from the Sea of Galilee. 

This brings us to Lapid and his weird visit to Washington.  

While Iran was ostensibly the focus of Lapid's visit, the Biden administration made clear that it has no intention of reconsidering its commitment to maintaining its nuclear appeasement policy towards Tehran. Then there are the Palestinians. Ahead of Lapid's arrival, the administration used the anniversary of the Abraham Accords, (which it refuses to call by their name), to underline that they are with Merkel in their hatred of the peace deals and their determination to reinstate the Palestinian veto over Arab-Israeli peace. 

"The Biden administration has started out with a clear commitment to the two-state solution…. We continue to welcome the economic cooperation between Israel and all countries in the region. We hope that normalization can be leverage to advance progress on the Israel-Palestinian tracks," an anonymous State Department spokesman said. 

Lapid papered over Israel's concern over the administration's pro-Iranian stance and its diminution of the historic peace. And this makes sense. Just as Bennett ignores Abdullah's hostility and blames Netanyahu for bad relations with Jordan, so Lapid scapegoats Netanyahu as the cause of Democrat antagonism towards Israel.

In the interest of castigating Netanyahu, Lapid has long ignored both the radicalization of the Democrat Party and the rapid spread of antisemitism through the American Left over the past decade.  

Tuesday Lapid met with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Lapid heaped praise on Harris just two weeks after she praised a student who accused Israel of committing genocide. Harris, he said, is "one of Israel's best friends in Washington. A leader who always stands with us in all the important struggles and who we can always count on in difficult moments."

In Lapid's follow-on he didn't simply ignore what Harris had just done. He indirectly justified her behavior. In his write-up of the meeting on his Twitter feed, Lapid said that in addition to discussing Iran's nuclear program, he and Harris spoke about how to "strengthen the bipartisan connection with the next generation of Americans."

Lapid didn't express concern over galloping antisemitism on campuses. He heaped praise on younger Americans. "They aren't just busy with wars and confrontations but also with the climate crisis, the global immigration crisis and with questions of identity," he cooed.

Last year Israel had a reality-based foreign policy. It was predicated on the basic truth that the justice of Israel's existence and power is immutable. That foreign policy ended the Palestinian veto and brought four robust peace agreements with Arab states. Now Israel has a reality- denying foreign policy which is reinstating the Palestinian veto and glorifying Israel's enemies. 

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Merkel's support for a two-state solution has been one of the key disagreements with Israel's leadership during her 16 years in office, which were characterized by unwavering support for Israel.

Speaking at an Israeli think tank, Merkel welcomed the historic diplomatic agreements reached last year between Israel and four Arab countries - led by the United Arab Emirates. But she said the deals, known as the Abraham Accords, did not erase the need for Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

"We must not lose sight of the right of the Palestinians to have a chance to live," she said. "Therefore one should under no circumstances, even as it becomes more and more difficult because of the settlements, lose sight of the issue of a two-state solution," Merkel told a panel at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Backers of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by former US President Donald Trump's administration, have praised them as breaking the long-standing belief that Israel could not forge ties with the Arab world before reaching an agreement with the Palestinians.

Israel's new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, who opposes a Palestinian state on Israeli-occupied lands, has ruled out peace talks with the Palestinians. Instead, he has advocated what he says is a more pragmatic approach to improving living conditions for the Palestinians as a way of lowering tensions. His government, a patchwork of dovish, nationalist, and Arab parties that took office in June, has not announced any major changes in policy thus far.

Merkel welcomed Bennett's intentions but said such an approach would not be enough.

"I think that such a long-running issue (the conflict with the Palestinians) will not disappear from the agenda, even if there are improved relations with neighboring Arab states," she said.

Throughout Merkel's visit, she was welcomed as a "true friend" of Israel. Her agenda included meetings with Israeli leaders and a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

She repeatedly professed Germany's commitment to Israel's security and said she was confident that her country's next government – to be determined in lengthy coalition talks following an inconclusive election last month – would take a similar stance.

A key issue on the agenda was Iran's nuclear program. Germany was one of the world powers that negotiated the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran.

Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018. The Biden administration has been trying to revive that deal over Israeli objections.

In the meantime, Iran has marched forward with its nuclear activities, such as increased uranium enrichment - a step that can move it closer to building a bomb.

Merkel said that disagreements among the world powers that negotiated the original deal have weakened their position and allowed Iran to buy time and expand its military activities across the region.

"Iran knows this, and therefore we face a very serious situation," she said. She acknowledged that she does not have a solution but called on key players, including Russia and China, to take a stronger public stance against Iran.

"The more countries make it clear that they don't accept the ambitions and aggression of Iran, the better for the region," she said.

Merkel was scheduled to visit in August, but the trip was postponed after the crisis in Afghanistan in which the Taliban seized power. She then delayed the visit until after last month's German election. She now remains in office in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed, a process that could take weeks or even months.

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Bereaved families protested outside the King David Hotel in Jerusalem Sunday during a cabinet meeting that was attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The protest was organized by the Im Tirztu right-wing watchdog group and other organizations that work with bereaved families. Demonstrators claimed that over the past last decade alone, Germany has transferred 84 million shekels ($26 million) to propaganda organizations that are hostile to Israel and provide legal assistance to Palestinian terrorists.

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According to data collected by the watchdog, the German government had directly and indirectly funded about 34 propaganda organizations that have extreme left-wing views, including an organization that promotes refusal by Israeli youngsters to get drafted into the IDF.

In a letter to Merkel, heads of Im Tirztu and other forums wrote, "As you must know, the German government transfers directly (via the German Foreign Ministry) and indirectly (through government foundations) hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions, of euros each year to Israeli political organizations affiliated with the extreme Left."

It stressed that German funds were used to fund organizations that support the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which work to encourage international pressure on Israel, attempt to change its immigration policy and even try to change Israel's policy of war on terror "through legal proceedings and international pressure."

"The government funding that Germany transfers to political organizations in Israel is a despicable and anti-democratic political subversion. It is a waste of the German taxpayer's money," the letter said .

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There is no question: No German chancellor has ever contributed more significantly to upgrading relations between their country and Israel than Angela Merkel; not Konrad Adenauer and not Helmut Kohl, both conservatives, and certainly not the social democratic chancellors Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt or Gerhard Schröder. This is evidenced by the number of times Merkel has visited Israel (this is her eighth visit; more than any other German leader during their tenure), and the citations and honorary degrees she has received through the years from Israeli and Jewish institutions is countless.

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Merkel, who declared at the United Nations and the Knesset that Israel's existence and security are an integral part of Germany's national interest and inserted her country's commitment to Israel as a Jewish state into the charters of the government's she has headed, has been able to convince many Israelis that a "different Germany" now exists.

Yet still, despite her many contributions to Israeli-German relations, she leaves her successor numerous issues that muddy this relationship and perpetuates the problems afflicting it. First and foremost is the issue of the "missing third" in compensation payments to Israel for the Holocaust. In the 1950s, Israel asked West Germany and East Germany for $1.5 billion in aid to help it absorb Holocaust survivors.

Based on its size, West Germany should have paid some two-thirds of that sum, and East Germany the remaining third. Communist East Germany, where Merkel grew up, never paid Israel its share, despite giving generous financial aid to Israel's Arab enemies. The current value of this "missing third" is estimated at around $17 billion. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid would do well to stop obsessing about Poland and kindly ask the Germans to pay their decades-old debt. Just as East Germany transferred money to Israel's enemies, including the PLO, Merkel's governments have also transferred considerable funds to UNRWA, whose very existence represents a call for the eradication of the Jewish state. Throughout Merkel's time in office, this annual aid has mushroomed from around 3 million euros to more than 170 million euros.

There is also the problem of Germany's support for anti-Israel resolutions at international forums, which also contradict its stated commitment to Israel, and its hiding behind European Union resolutions as an excuse to adopt anti-Israel positions. Germany is one of the European countries preventing the evacuation of the illegal settlement of Khan al-Ahmar, in complete contravention of international agreements.

Merkel's Germany encouraged Israelis to move to Berlin but insisted that swathes of their homeland be "Judenrein" (clean of Jews). And, of course, there is also the matter of German political and private funds intervening in Israel's domestic affairs. Merkel should have directed her government ministries to change how these political groups, supported by public funds, conduct themselves in Israel, so that their only mission is to promote and advance relations between the two countries and not to "teach democracy" to Israelis or push them toward peace and brotherhood with other nations.

All of these problems will be inherited by Merkel's successors. She can use her final days as chancellor to change some of these things. Israel, for its part, must also insist she does so, instead of pandering and placating.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived in Israel late Saturday for a final visit before she leaves office, met with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday.

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Bennett told Merkel that Israel's ties with Germany, under Merkel as chancellor, had become "stronger than ever."

"Thank you, Angela," Bennett said.

The prime minister said that Israel valued its friendship with Merkel and her commitment to Israel.

"Sometimes a leader makes a major difference, and I think that your leadership paved the way to Germany's ongoing commitment to Israel's security. We remember the history, and are looking forward with optimism to a better future," Bennett said.

Video: Reuters

Bennett said that the issue of Iran's nuclear program had reached a stage that "demands leadership," and said that if the free world accepted Iran reaching the nuclear threshold, it would be a "moral stain" as well as a threat to world peace.

"Imagine the damage Iran would cause if the world knew that it had a nuclear weapon behind its bullying," Bennett said.

Bennett said there was no point in trying to pacify Iran, as Tehran continued to "toy with" the international community and play for time while challenging regional stability.

"This is a critical point in time, and Germany's position is crucial. In Israel, we are taking action and operating against Iran in every dimension – including daily actions to stop it flooding our region with weapons," the prime minister said.

Merkel said that every day that passed without Tehran responding to US overtures would result in Iran enriching more uranium.

Speaking during a visit to Israel, the outgoing chancellor said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a responsibility to help to push Iran back to the negotiating table.

"I also see a responsibility for Russia and China here, since if the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is no longer doing what it's meant to do then that's very difficult, so we are now in very decisive weeks for this deal," Merkel said.

Germany's ambassador to Israel, Susanne Wasum-Rainer, tweeted that the visit aims to "strengthen our unique" relationship.

In power since 2005, Merkel boosted cooperation with Israel that Germany became Israel's largest trade partner in Europe. In a 2008 trip marking Israel's 60th anniversary, Merkel addressed the Israeli parliament, in German, and expressed shame over the Holocaust. The 20-minute speech earned Merkel a standing ovation.

But Germany, like much of Europe, was at odds with Israel when it comes to the Palestinian issue. Germany has called for a Palestinian state alongside Israel and opposes Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank.

Merkel also visited Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and met with President Isaac Herzog, who praised her as "one of the most important leaders of the modern era."

Herzog surprised Merkel by announcing a special scholarship named after her, which would go to aspiring female researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Merkel was then scheduled to meet with business and high-tech representatives.

Merkel will also be presented with an honorary doctorate from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at a ceremony in Jerusalem. Merkel, who has a doctorate in natural sciences, published a number of papers on quantum chemistry before entering German politics.

The two-day visit was supposed to take place in August, but was postponed after the developments in Afghanistan where the United States Europe scrambled to evacuate personnel and allies from the country as it Taliban took over.

Merkel last visited Israel in 2018.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel will receive an honorary doctorate from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in honor of her Israel support, commitment to the fight against antisemitism, and support for science and education, and scientific collaboration between Israel and Germany in particular.

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Merkel, who has a doctorate in natural sciences, published a number of papers on quantum chemistry before entering German politics. Having served as the European country's leader for 16 years, Merkel is set to retire from politics later this month.

Merkel will receive the doctorate at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Sunday.

"Chancellor Merkel's path has taken her from a brilliant scientific career in quantum chemistry to an unparalleled political legacy at a time of tectonic changes starting with the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the unification of Germany," said Technion President Professor Uri Sivan.

"Under her leadership, Merkel navigated Europe through a global economic crisis and displayed great humanity to those who were displaced by civil wars and other armed conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

"As a true leader, constantly striving to improve the lives of millions worldwide, Chancellor Merkel never avoided publicly facing the harsh and uncomfortable realities of global and domestic challenges. She has done so while never forgetting the true meaning of compassion and social responsibility."

Prof. Sivan thanked Chancellor Merkel: "We salute you for what you have given Germany, Israel, and the world. We are forever grateful."

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Iran is working to expand and upgrade its weapons of mass destruction arsenal, according to a German intelligence report obtained and published on Monday by conservative news outlet the Washington Free Beacon.

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The Islamic republic is seeking to expand its "conventional arsenal of weapons through the production or constant modernization of weapons of mass destruction," said the German-language report issued last week by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, a state security agency equivalent to the FBI.

The German report, which covers the year 2020 and was independently translated for the Washington Free Beacon, also found that Iran is waging sophisticated espionage activities in the country. Germany is one of several European countries where Iranian spies are known to operate.

"In order to obtain the necessary know-how and corresponding components," Iranian agents in 2020 sought to establish business contacts with German companies operating in the high-tech field while dodging US and international sanctions. "This includes information from foreign and security policy as well as business and science."

The report concluded that "Germany remains in the focus of [Iranian] intelligence activities."

The German intelligence report directly refute claims by Iran's leaders that the country has no interest in building a nuclear bomb and provides the firmest evidence to date that Iran is misleading the world about the nature of its nuclear program.

Iran's intelligence services are also engaged in "the observation of and fight against opposition groups, domestically and abroad," according to the report.

It was unclear if and how the report could influence nuclear talks with Iran, which include the United States and Germany along with Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.

The German report, according to the Washington Free Beacon, further notes that North Korea, Syria, and Pakistan engaged in similar WMD efforts in 2020.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been one of the leading proponents of the nuclear accord and reopening business ties with Iran.

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Despite ongoing allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his associates involving the acquisition of new submarines from Germany, a document obtained by Israel Hayom indicates that Israel never intended to maintain an order of battle of more than six submarines.

The document in question is a working paper prepared by top-level officials in the National Security council and the Defense Ministry ahead of a meeting Netanyahu held with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Oct. 21, 2015.

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The paper served as a basis for a draft of a memorandum of understanding with the Germans that was presented to Merkel and her defense advisor Christoph Heusgen during another visit Netanyahu made to Berlin at the end of February 2016.

That draft was sent to the "red fax" in the Defense Ministry director-general's office, and the top ministry staff looked at it with "total amazement," as described in Ronen Bergman's investigative report on the affair in Yedioth Ahronoth.

The paper, which was recently cleared for publication, details the background for the understandings between Israel and Germany for the acquisition of submarines in the last few years and a few years to tome.

"The submarines make a very large contribution to Israel's security. The Israeli government puts great importance on ongoing security cooperation in the region, the goal being to keep the production lines in Germany and the number of submarines the same in the coming decades," the paper states.

Later, it reads: "The German government has supplied the Israeli government with six submarines (five already supplied, one in the future)."

The submarines cited in the paper include three Dolphin-class submarines, the oldest of which is slated to be decommissioned in 2028; two more of the most advanced Dolphin model, AIP, which were commissioned in 2014 and 2016; and a sixth submarine, which was originally scheduled to be delivered last year, but is now expected to enter use in 2023.

According to the second section of the paper, Israel and Germany would "sign an agreement for the supply of three additional submarines (a seventh, eighth, and ninth one) that would be sent from Germany to Israel between 2027 and 2031."

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A sketch at the end of the paper makes it clear that submarine numbers seven, eight, and nine are not intended to be added to Israel's fleet, but rather to replace three of the submarines it already owns. For example, the oldest submarine, which is scheduled to be decommissioned eight years from now (in 2028) is slated to be replaced that same year by the first of the three submarines Germany has promised to supply. One will come in, and the other will go out. Every new submarine commissioned will replace an old one that is decommissioned. The two next-oldest submarines were scheduled to be replaced in 2030 and 2032.

All this means that at any one time, Israel would maintain a fleet of no more than six submarines.

When Israel Hayom asked for a response, former head of the National Security Council Brig. Gen. (res.) Jacob Nagel denied claims that the paper had been prepared secretly.

According to Nagel, the work on the paper was carried out in full cooperation with the Defense Ministry official in charge of submarines, whose identity is classified.

Nagel also said that prior to Netanyahu's visit to Germany, the draft MoU that was presented to Merkel and her staff had been approved by then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Defense Ministry Director-General Dan Harel, and that the changes they requested were included in the draft Netanyahu carried to Merkel.

Ya'alon and Harel, as well as other high-ranking defense officials, are claiming that they witnessed improper conduct that demands that the submarines deal be investigated, and Ya'alon is even making claims about "massive corruption."

In effect, the working paper reported here would appear to dismantle many of the allegations of corruption directed against the submarines acquisition deal. First of all, it was prepared before the first meeting between Netanyahu and Merkel in October 2015, a full four months before Ya'alon "discovered by chance," as he put it, that Netanyahu was about to make a second trip to Berlin to discuss the submarines; and second, it states clearly that Israel would maintain a fleet of no more than six submarines at any one time.

Rather than acquiring "three more submarines" and expanding the fleet to nine, as Ya'alon claimed the deal was intended to do, the three new submarines would replace three that would be decommissioned.

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