The German Foreign Minister has expressed during a visit to Jerusalem that the German government might lift its veto on the sale of 48 Eurofighter combat planes to Saudi Arabia due to Saudi efforts to "contain the risk of a regional conflagration" against Israel following Hamas' terrorist attacks in October.
The sales operation is led by BAE Systems, which would be responsible for the assembly and delivery of the Eurofighters according to the global distribution among program partners for sales to third countries.
Several German government ministers and other high-ranking officials have supported this idea, under the premise that this sale will bolster Israel's defense.
The policy of Germany’s governing coalition — composed of the Social Democratic, the Green and the Free Democratic parties — was to prohibit weapons sales to parties involved in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia supports the Yemen government in fighting Houthi rebels, who have aligned themselves with Hamas against Israel. Berlin’s blockade was also grounded in human rights violations committed by Riyadh.
In 2021, the German government ratified the embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia imposed after the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and subsequently extended due to human rights violations in the country and the war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Germany, as a co-producer of the jets along with the U.K., Spain and Italy, can veto Eurofigher sales and spares to countries outside of the core user group. The aircraft are made by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Saudi Arabia has aircraft manufactured with Airbus origins, including Tornado aircraft (77 active out of 120 acquired), Eurofighter (71 active out of 72), C295 (4), and A330MRTT (6).
If Germany formalizes the end of this veto, it would not automatically mean that Saudi Arabia purchases the Eurofighters. As a result of the veto, the Saudi government is negotiating the possible purchase of 54 Dassault Rafale aircraft.
One country that would benefit considerably from the lifting of this veto would be Spain, as this would mean Saudi Arabia could acquire A400M transports, whose sale was confirmed before the German veto.
At that time, it was stated that each sale would be analyzed individually. This announcement was made during a NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He stated in his press statements at the end of the meeting that the sale of Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia was not on his government's agenda in the foreseeable future. Another source close to the German government, under anonymity, confirmed that the authorization for the sale would not occur during the current legislative term ending in late 2025.
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