‘A sign of how much Israel has grown in strength’

Maj. (res.) Raphael BenLevi: The deal marks a milestone in Israel’s defense-export relationship with Europe. This is a very positive development and there is potential for additional deals of this kind.

The deal deepens security cooperation with Germany, which is a central partner of Israel in Europe, but it also opens the door to sales with additional European countries in the field of missile defense.

From a historical perspective, 50 years ago many Jews sought to boycott the Volkswagen company as a German national company, and today Volkswagen is selling its plant to the Israeli Rafael company to manufacture weaponry. This is a sign of how much Israel has grown in strength since then.

Published in JNS, October  05, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.