Israeli Sub Transits Suez Canal

(Jerusalem) In an uncommon move, an Israeli Dolphin-class diesel submarine sailed the Suez Canal last month. Typically, Israeli submarines, assumed to carry nuclear weapons, avoid the canal and the scrutiny of Egyptian and other Arab observers.

A defense source said the Israeli navy held an exercise off Eilat last month and that a Dolphin took part, having traveled to the Red Sea port though Suez. Israel has a naval base at Eilat, a 10-km (6-mile) strip of coast between Egypt and Jordan, but officials say it has no submarine dock there.

"This was definitely a departure from policy," said the source, who declined to give further details on the drill or say whether the Dolphin had undergone Egyptian inspections in the canal, through which the submarine sailed unsubmerged.

A military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the voyage, first reported on Friday by the Jerusalem Post.

Egyptian officials at Suez said they would neither confirm nor deny reports regarding military movements. One official said that if there was such a passage by Israelis in the canal, it would not be problematic as Egypt and Israel are not at war.

Apparently, Egypt and Israel have sort of an unwritten mutual tolerance agreement due to a shared anxiety about non-Arab Iran.