Germany might buy a missile defence system from Israel

Germany may buy a missile defense system from Israel as it considers how to allocate a budget for defence in response to Russia's invasion. The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the possibility of a missile defense shield covering the entire territory of Germany when he met with Eberhard Zorn, the inspector general for the Bundeswehr.

The paper stated that they were discussing a possible acquisition by Israel of the "Arrow 3", system.

Andreas Schwarz, who is a member for Scholz's Social Democrats and a spokesperson on the budget, stated to the newspaper that such a system makes sense.

We must be more secure against Russian threats. We need a Germany-wide missile defense shield fast for this," he said to the newspaper. He also added that "The Israeli Arrow 3 system" is a good option.

Scholz made a historic speech just days after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2017. He announced that Germany would increase its defense spending to more than 2 percent of its GDP and invest 100 billion euros ($110 million) in defence.

Moscow claims that the goal of what Putin calls a special military operation is to demilitarize and "denazify" its neighbor. This is a pretext to invading Ukraine without its Western allies.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann is the head of parliament’s defense committee. She said that Germany should look at different options for missile defense, including against high-flying ballistic missiles that enter space as part of their flight.

Welt television interviewed him and said that Israel produces such a system, it made sense to look into various scenarios and to possibly buy it as soon possible.