An Egyptian submarine?

Let’s stop for a moment and think. What does it mean for “Bibi” Netanyahu to agree to sell a German submarine to Egypt? What does it mean for Germany to get approval from Bibi and his security agency to sell a submarine to Egypt? What if he objected to this? Would Egypt be deprived of the submarine? Since he agreed, what is the price of this? Apart from the financial gains being talked about in the form of stocks, there is also a much more important security aspect to his matter.

Germany has asked for Israel’s approval to sell a submarine to Egypt, meaning that the submarine is under German supervision and in coordination with Israel. It means that the submarine is not completely free even if it is occupied by Egyptians, and this is reminiscent of the German missiles that Egypt possessed in 1967, which became apparent that they are more for show than actual weapons.

If the missiles from 1967 were fake and were not operating at the time they were needed, there is undoubtedly advanced technology in the hands of the Germans who produced them that allow them to control the submarine remotely when they see necessary. If, for example, this submarine does something unacceptable in the eyes of the Germans.

This means that these weapons pose no issues for the Israeli army, and may even be under Israeli control through precision technology. Otherwise, what does Israeli agreement to a submarine deal mean?

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In Israel, they do not rely on one Arab president or king or another. They think strategically and believe that no how friendly and cooperative a leader is, they may turn against them in a movement and these advanced weapons would be in the hands of those who are hostile towards Israel.

The matter of the submarine and allowing its sale to Egypt shows the extent of Israel’s influence among the sources of power worldwide.

We do not need confirmation of its influence in the US, as Donald Trump is even more extreme than Bibi Netanyahu and does even more than he does. Soon, he will announce his “deal of the century”, which does not meet even the minimum Palestinian rights, and his declaration of his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights which is a pre-election gift and moral support to Bibi Netanyahu to show the extent of his strength, influence and greatness. This is especially the case because this gift was preceded by his moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and the US used its influence on other countries to recognise a unified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as other countries began to recognise this and this will be followed by recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

In this carnival atmosphere, Putin stepped up to the plate and took action to help Bibi by retrieving the remains of the missing soldier Zachery Baumel.

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It is necessary to stress the right of every family that lost their child in the war to have their child returned to them and to know that they have a grave. These are human emotions that no one has a right to violate, but in this case, Arab citizens have the right to ask: Don’t the missing Arab soldiers have anyone to ask about them? Don’t their families who have relatives buried in the cemetery of numbers have the right to have their relatives returned to them, to bury them in their hometowns, and for their families to know that they have graves they can visit?

Putting this sensitive issue to the side, the real support from Putin to Netanyahu does not lie in this matter, the timing of which is being taken advantage of for the elections. Putin’s real support is the fact that the S-300 or S-400 missiles in Syria that he has told the entire world about do not work and will not work when the Israeli air force strikes and bombs the centre of Syria.

There is a clear agreement between Putin and Netanyahu to fight the Iranian presence and its arm, Hezbollah, in Syria. This is in exchange for the remainder of Al-Assad’s regime and security and intelligence cooperation, which is occurring with the complete approval of Al-Assad and in coordination with him.

Even the downing of the Russian plane and the killing of the 16 officers on board did not affect the deep and strategic relationship between the governments in Russia and Israel. The Russian-Israeli relationship is too deep to be shaken by the killing of 16 Russian soldiers, as there are close secret security relations between the two sides.

There are also covert relations in the field of nanotechnology, in which Israel is considered an advanced country.

Moreover, the strong respect the strong, so Putin respects Netanyahu, who has constantly asked for the return of the body of the missing Israeli soldier, who has been missing for 37 years. Meanwhile, he knows what is going on in Syria’s prisons, knows about the mass graves, and knows the state of rock bottom the regime has reached. Therefore, he is giving him as much as he deserves, as much as someone who chases after leadership even if the price of such leadership is the genocide of his own people. Moreover, the global super powers have supported Netanyahu, as there is official Arab support for him by means of building secret and public relationships with him.

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Despite all the financial scandals Netanyahu and his family are involved in, which could have eliminated any leader from his position, the security factor is still the main factor. This is why he is still maintaining his superior popularity when compared to others. As for the alternatives proposed to the public, they copy the Likud with their threats to the Palestinians and work to maintain their division in order to ensure they are denied their rights.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arab48 on 5 April 2019

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.