Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Platform 17 Holocaust memorial site in Berlin on Friday as part of his delegation's trip to Germany before departing back to Israel.
Gallant, who visited the platform along with the Defense Ministry director-general Maj.-Gen. (res) Eyal Zamir and Israeli aerospace industry leaders, was joined by the German defense minister and a Holocaust survivor living in the city together with his wife.
The defense minister's visit primarily focused on a deal for the sale of the Arrow 3 defense system, which was finalized on Wednesday.
Gallant said of the visit, "today I mark a very exciting and important day, here in Berlin, the capital of Germany. 80 years after 50,000 Jews were sent to their deaths in this place, at Platform 17 in Berlin, we are here at the head of an Israeli delegation from the Defense Ministry, the IDF, and the aerospace industry, signing a deal worth about four billion dollars, in order to protect Germany.”
A message to the Israeli public
“I want to say to the public in Israel: we have the ability to protect ourselves, our families, and our children and so we shall."
"This is the purpose of the defense apparatus,” he concluded.