Gantz hopeful over sale of Arrow-3 to Germany

Scholz has faced heavy criticism over slow rollout of defense spending since Russian invasion of Ukraine

Israel believes that the United States will allow the sale of the Arrow-3 missile defense system to Germany, outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday.

“We have spoken to them to allow this, the process is ongoing and I am hopeful that it will go through,” Gantz said, speaking to Ynet News.

Also on Monday, the outgoing director-general of the Israel Ministry of Defense, Maj.Gen. (ret) Amir Eshel met with German State Secretary for the Federal Ministry of Defense, Mr. Benedikt Zimmer for the yearly bilateral strategic dialogue.

The meeting included senior officials from the Policy & PolMil Bureau and the DDR&D in the Israel Ministry of Defense and their German counterparts in the MOD Political Directorate, the Strategic Armament Cooperation Office, the State Secretary Office, and the Middle East Desk Office.

According to a statement released by the Defense Ministry, the officials discussed global and regional strategic issues such as the “growing Iranian threat and Iran’s malign behavior, the global ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine war, bilateral defense cooperation, the joint interest to strengthen regional stability, broaden research and development processes, and more, in light of the developments in the region and around the world.”

They also discussed developments regarding the proposed sale of the Arrow-3 to Berlin.

While Germany seeks to play a stronger role in military leadership in Europe, Berlin on Monday walked back on its promise that it made following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to raise defense spending to at least 2% of its GDP.

According to Politico, Chief Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit told journalists that the 2% target would be missed not only this year but also likely next year and that his “cautious expectation” was that it would meet the target by 2025.

Following Russia’s invasion, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party said it would set up a special fund of €100 billion ($108b.) in order to swiftly upgrade its armed forces. But, the SDP has faced heavy criticism over the slow rollout of the defense spending.

Germany, nevertheless, hopes to sign a deal to purchase Israel’s Arrow-3 missile defense system and have the system operational by 2025.

According to a source, had Russia not invaded Ukraine last February it would have been much harder to convince legislators to purchase the Arrow-3. The deal would cost an estimated €3b., making it the largest defense deal in Israeli history.

The head of the German Air Force Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz was in Israel in November and visited Israel Aerospace Industries, which manufactures the system, as well as senior IDF and Israel Air Force officials.

Berlin is pushing to procure the system as it has no missile defense system capable of intercepting missiles in the exoatmospheric range of 15,000 meters like the Arrow3, making it the most relevant system for the threats facing the European nation.