05 December 2016
BEIRUT: Four ships under construction for the Israeli Navy are being constructed in Abu Dhabi by a company partially owned by a Lebanese national, Israeli media reported Sunday. Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp had been commissioned by the Israeli government to construct four corvette class warships. ThyssenKrupp in turn subcontracted the work to UAE-based shipbuilder Abu Dhabi MAR in which Lebanese-French national Iskandar Safa, through his holding company Privinvest, owns a 30-percent stake. The remaining 70 percent of the company is owned by the Abu Dhabi-based Al-Ain International Group.
Privinvest is based in Beirut and as such is bound by Lebanese commercial law. Neither the United Arab Emirates nor Lebanon recognizes the state of Israel and Lebanon remains in a de facto state of war with its neighbor. It has laws in place that explicitly prohibit Lebanese nationals and entities from conducting business with the state.
Safa, born in Beirut in 1955, is a prominent shipbuilder in Europe and told U.K. newspaper the Independent in a 1994 interview that, Lebanon is my country. ... But after 18 years of war we dont have a complex about any other countries. The daily also reported that he was on the Lebanese national discus team and studied at the American University of Beirut before leaving the country to work in the United States.
The Daily Star could not reach Privinvest for comments.
Israeli military officials denied that any classified or sensitive information had been leaked as a result of the commissioning of the project, the Israeli newspaper reported.
Germany is reportedly paying for one-third of the ships estimated $480 million bill.
Israel has been beefing up its navy after offshore gas fields were discovered, it had previously commissioned six warships from ThyssenKrupp.
The news comes after it was revealed that IFIC, an Iranian-based holding company, owns a 4.5 percent of ThyssenKrupp. The discovery was only reported after Israel purchased submarines from the German conglomerate.
Iran is Israels main rival in the region and is loathed by the Jewish state for its support for Hezbollah, the force that drove the Israeli army out of south Lebanon in 2000 and inflicted significant losses on its military during the 34-day 2006 war.
ThyssenKrupp told the Agence France Presse that IFIC owned approximately 7 percent of the company until May 2003, when it fell below 5 percent. It did not confirm details on the size of its current stake, if any.
Reports in 2003 said the United States government had pressured ThyssenKrupp to reduce Irans stake to below 5 percent.
The Iranian states representative on the companys supervisory board was also removed.
Israel is reportedly attempting to buy three submarines from the company at a price of $1.3 billion that would replace the oldest vessels in its fleet.
Copyright The Daily Star 2016.
