The city of Quarnbek in northern Germany is demanding reimbursement to the tune of 1,263.01 euro ($1391.55) for rescuing two armed Israeli Mossad agents who were stuck in the mud last December, German TV channel NDR reported last week.
Apparently, the two armed Mossad agents were sent to secure the transfer of a German submarine from the Kiel harbor to Israel, but became stuck in the mud with their car, a Ford Focus, on the bank of the Kiel Canal. Local police and the volunteer fire brigade rescued them from the mud, and promptly sent the bill for their expenses to the Israeli embassy in Berlin.
The Rahav, the fifth Israeli Navy submarine and its second Air-independent propulsion (AIP) type, using technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel), arrived in Israel in January.
According to reports in German media, the two Israelis had entered a forbidden area, despite the sign that spelled this out in clear German. An older woman who became suspicious challenged them and they told her they were checking out the area for a boating competition. So she called the cops, who brought the local mayor, and the two men showed their diplomatic passports and gun permits.
A local farmer was rushed over with his tractor, which he tied to the Israelis’ car and pulled it out of the mud. Everybody shook hands, the two Israelis expressed their deep gratitude and drove off — according to police report.
Now it’s time to pay up.