Israel, Germany hold joint Cabinet meeting amidst protests; Israel to receive nuclear submarine

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Tuesday January 19, 2010 04:47 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Orthodox Jews at Monday’s Protests in Germany (photo press tv)“Judaism Yes, Zionism No!” read signs carried by a group of Orthodox Jews who joined dozens of other protesters outside a joint Cabinet meeting of the German and Israeli Prime Ministers on Monday. The protesters condemned the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live imprisoned behind Israeli and Egyptian border controls, unable to leave or to export or import goods.

Protesters also challenged Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip last year, during which Israeli forces killed over 1400 Palestinians, 400 of whom were children, including dozens of infants and babies. Five Israeli civilian adults were killed by Palestinian resistance fighters during the 23-day Israeli invasion.

Despite the protests outside, Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed plans to funnel more German weapons, including nuclear Dolphin submarines, to Israel. Israel already possesses five such submarines, most of them gifts from the German government.

The German-manufactured nuclear submarines contain six 553 mm torpedo tubes and 4 648 tubes capable of launching Cruise missiles nearly one thousand miles. Although Israel is widely known to have a large-scale nuclear arsenal, including nuclear-armed cruise missiles developed in its nuclear plant in Dimona, the Israeli government continues to refuse to participate in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or to make its nuclear weapons arsenal available for inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Israel provocatively moved one of its submarines into the Suez canal in Egypt last June, a strategic maneuver which the Iranian government said was meant to provoke a response on its part. The Iranian government said at the time that they would not allow themselves to be provoked by such actions by Israel.

While Israel claims that the arms being funneled to the Jewish state are to “protect Israel from Iran”, some analysts have speculated a much wider objective for the continuing military sales and agreements between Europe, the US and Israel, saying that Israel is constructing a military defense shield for Europe, and acting as if it were a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Earlier this month Israel announced that it has successfully tested what it calls its Iron Dome short- and medium-range anti-missile system, which consists of the newly-developed Arrow 2 and David’s Sling interceptor missiles. According to the Washington Post, the first Arrow “was deployed in 2000, and Israel and the United States have since conducted a joint, biennial missile defense exercise, called Juniper Cobra, to work on integrating the weapons, radars and other systems of the two countries.”

Last May the Obama administration in the US had its first military strategy meeting with Israeli officials, in which the US agreed to fully fund a $100 million advanced Arrow 3 missile defense system based in Israel.

Rick Rozoff, with the Canadian think tank Global Research, released a report Sunday documenting dozens of strategic meetings and arms deals over the last year which point to a massive arms buildup in Israel that could lead to a conflagration of global proportions. The Jerusalem Post reported on January 13 that “Israel is launching a diplomatic initiative in an effort to influence the outcome of NATO’s new Strategic Concept which is currently under review by a team of experts led by former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.” In the same article, the Jerusalem Post reported that “Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to participate in top NATO forums.”