ISRAEL HAYOM
Menace from the depths
by Aharon Lapidot
November 25, 2016

A submarine is a an expensive tool of war, and if anyone thinks the public discussion over purchasing submarines for the Israeli Navy began only a few days ago, they need to think again. The idea to buy submarines from Germany was first raised in the 1980s, after the Lebanon War. The idea was accompanied by heated debate between the Navy and the IDF and the Defense Ministry over what the national priorities should be. Ultimately, in 1989, then-Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a complex contract with two German shipyards to build the Navy new submarines. Just a little over a year later, however, in November 1990, the new defense minister, Moshe Arens, nullified the contract with the support of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir due to heavy pressure from the IDF and budgetary troubles. READ MORE