The Spokesperson's office of the Israel Defense Forces has responded for the first time to accusations against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding the purchase of submarines from Germany.
A Thursday-morning statement by the office said, "This is a future purchase of three submarines , in more than a decade, to replace submarines that will age. The need was presented by the IDF at a recent cabinet meeting, following the ongoing discussion taking place at various levels: the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and deliberations of the cabinet and the [Knesset] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee."