Germany continues to solidify its role in Western-led Middle Eastern military-expansionism, likely seeking to jointly benefit from the military projects the United States took over from Nazi Germany, in order to secure Middle Eastern oil among other assets. Germany has developed and financed for Israel submarines the Middle Eastern is equipping with submarines. German taxpayers, apparently, remain on the hook for the destruction caused by their transnationally financed Nazi experiment.

Israel, claims the German magazine SPIEGEL, is equipping submarines that were built in the north of Germany  and financed by German taxpayers with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. SPIEGEL writes:

The missiles can be launched using a previously secret hydraulic ejection system. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told SPIEGEL that Germans should be “proud” that they have secured the existence of the state of Israel “for many years.”

 In the past, the German government has always stuck to the position that it is unaware of nuclear weapons being deployed on the vessels. Now, however, former high-ranking officials from the German Defense Ministry, including former State Secretary Lothar Rühl and former chief of the planning staff Hans Rühle, have told SPIEGEL that they had always assumed that Israel would deploy nuclear weapons on the submarines. Rühl had even discussed the issue with the military in Tel Aviv.

Documents from the archives of the German Foreign Ministry make it clear, however, that the German government has known about the program since 1961. The last discussion for which there is evidence took place in 1977, when then-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt spoke to then-Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan about the issue.

The German government recently signed the contract for the delivery of the sixth vessel. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, Chancellor Angela Merkel made substantial concessions to the Israelis. Not only is Berlin financing one-third of the cost of the submarine, around €135 million ($168 million), but it is also allowing Israel to defer its payment until 2015.