Report: Egypt Spies Alerted Israel to German Dolphin Submarine Buy, Russian Contract to Upgrade Tanks

Leaked confessions from a pair of Egyptians accused of spying for Israel on Thursday allegedly revealed that the most serious intelligence delivered was a report in 2010 that Egypt was buying four German Dolphin submarines and signing a contract with Russia to upgrade 35 tanks, according to Egypt’s Al-Masry Al-Youm.
 

According to the newspaper, which claimed to have access to signed confessions, the intelligence reports submitted to Israel  also described military exercises by the Egyptian army, the military council at the time of the revolution, and the popularity of religious movements. The reports were sent via an encrypted laptop that the Israeli intelligence had provided and the accused agents were paid €500 ($685) per report.
 

The two alleged spies, Ramzi Ahmed al-Shebini and Sahar Salama, on Monday were referred to a criminal court, along with unnamed Israeli Mossad agents, who would be tried in absentia.
 

In the confession, al-Shebini said he repeatedly approached Israeli embassy officials in Rome to offer his services as a spy, but was rebuffed. When the Israelis finally relented, al-Shebini said he was trained by collecting information about certain churches, universities and hotels in Italy.

 

 

He recruited Salama who works for a newspaper of the armed forces. After six months, Israel accepted her as part of this espionage team and provided the pair with a bag to hide secret reports. Salama’s first reports were about Army celebrations at the military academy’s graduations and on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War in 2009. She was then assigned to monitor army clubs and hotels, certain military industrial and agricultural projects, and military recruitment procedures.
 

In total, nine suspects, three Egyptians and six Israeli Mossad officers, were fingered in the spy ring, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm  earlier in February. Charges include transferring information about armed forces deployment, headquarters, security ambushes, infiltrators, jihadists and the Rafah border crossing in Sinai that could harm national interests, the report said.

 

Committed To Delivering Submarines To Egypt, Israel: Germany

The German Government reaffirmed its commitment to Israel and Egypt over the supply of two submarines. The statement comes following speculation of a rift between the two countries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said, "There has been no change in the German government's position towards Israel, in the commitment the German government feels towards Israel's security".

Ties between Egypt and Israel have broken down since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011. The Egyptian revolution has stirred fears in Israel that Egypt may undermine the peace treaty the two nations signed in 1979.

According to media reports, Israel is concerned that its navy may fall behind if Egypt gets modern German submarines.

Germany has supplied Israel with three "Dolphin" class submarines and the total is expected to reach six by 2017.

According to German news source, SPIEGEL, Merkel made major concessions to Israel, taking over a third of the costs and giving Israel until 2015 to pay its share.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the German submarines as "very important" for the security of his country.