Germany Nixes Billion Dollar Drone Deal with Israel

IDF drone
MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty

Ynetnews reports: A billion-dollar deal which would have seen Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) leasing Heron-2 drones to the German Air Force was scrapped Wednesday from the German agenda amid objections by coalition parties opposed to their offensive capabilities.

Opposition to the deal was first raised last week after members of parliament paid a visit to the industrial compound in Israel and expressed dismay at the discovery that the drones were already equipped with weapons systems which were almost ready to begin operations from the air.

Shortly after the visit, members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government, told Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Friday that they would not approve the deal with Israel in its current version.

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