Type-209 submarine. Photo: wiki commons.

The planned sale of two German made attack submarines to Egypt is being reconsidered by the German government, according to Der Spiegel, after Israeli lobbying against the sale intensified in recent months.

In late November of 2011, Germany approved a deal that would send two Type-209 submarines to the Egyptian government, however, Israel began its efforts to stop the sale in early September.

According to the Der Spiegel report, Germany’s Federal Security Council would cancel the sale “if the Egyptian government pursues a policy hostile to Israel. That’s a personal promise [Angela] Merkel gave to Netanyahu.”

Earlier this year, Germany and Israel completed the sale of two Dolphin class submarines for the Israeli Navy.  This transaction led Germany to believe Israel would not object to the submarine deal with Egypt.

“Yet to be on the safe side, Merkel personally contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the November meeting of the Federal Security Council and told him about the planned deal,” Der Spiegel wrote. Israeli and German defense officials also discussed the deal. “It seemed as if it was a not-very-spectacular deal, certainly not a deal that could trouble German-Israeli relations.”