Israel only has a few really good friends and "Germany is one of them," according to Israeli journalist Gad Lior. But with friendship comes responsibility - a fact that is very clear to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
When Merkel spoke to the Israeli cabinet some four years ago, she confirmed Germany's historic responsibility to the state of Israel, saying its right to exist was integral to German foreign policy.
That's one reason why Israelis say they can count on Germany.
"If it comes to a war with Iran, then we are very sure that Germany will be on Israel's side," said Lior, the Jerusalem bureau chief of Israel's largest daily paper, Yedioth Ahronoth. But German warnings have received little credence in Israel, where - after the United States - Germany is regarded as the country's closest friend, said former Israeli ambassador to Germany Avi Primor.
"Germany isn't given too much weight when it comes to the affairs of the Middle East," he said, adding that Israel's Middle East policy is not influenced by Germany or the rest of Europe. "America is what really counts for the Israeli government."
Germany could help Israel protect civilians from Iranian rocket attacks. In 1991, during the first Gulf War, Germany stationed Patriot missiles in Israel as part of an air defense system in case Saddam Hussein fired rockets at the Jewish state.
Germany has also already sold weapons, including submarines, to the Israeli armed forces. In Mid-March it was announced that the Israelis would receive a sixth vessel and that Germany would pay for about a third of it. Experts said the boat, which is though to be capable of carrying medium-range nuclear weapons, could be part of a strategy of deterrence against an Iranian missile threat. Israel has never confirmed that it has nuclear weapons, though many arms experts believe the country does.