President Isaac Herzog on Thursday delivered remarks at a ceremony at the Haifa Naval Base marking the arrival of the State of Israel’s sixth submarine, INS Drakon.
Also in attendance were the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, and the IDF Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir.
“Over the past two years, soldiers of the Israeli Navy and many others involved in this immense project have been working at the port of Kiel, on German soil. This too carries a symbolism that is almost beyond comprehension. Eighty-one years after the horrors of the Holocaust, the nation-state of the Jewish people is building, together with Germany, the crown jewel of global defense engineering. At the same time, the State of Israel not only imports defense capabilities from Germany, but also exports advanced defense systems to Germany, thereby contributing to the security of all of Europe," Herzog said in his remarks.
“As we welcome INS Drakon into the ranks of the Israeli Navy today, we are catching a glimpse of the future. The Drakon, joining the Israeli Navy today, together with the submarines that will follow it, reflects the bright future of the Israeli Navy. A future of innovation, of broader operational reach, and of power at the disposal of the State of Israel, greater than ever before. A power we will be able to deploy, and will not hesitate to deploy when necessary, even thousands of kilometers from Israel’s borders," the President stated.
“Today, as INS Drakon is entrusted to the soldiers of the Submarine Flotilla, we hold fast to one clear principle: it is the human being who makes the decision - the person who operates the machine. However advanced and costly that machine may be, it is the person who will always bring victory and the ability to carry the mission through to its very end," stated Herzog.