December 24, 1969
In the early 1960s the Israeli navy concluded that its World War II-era vessels needed updating to compete with their more advanced enemies, so in the mid-1960s Israel commissioned a series of Sa’ar 3 war boats, to be built in the French port of Cherbourg by the company Felix Amiot.
Relations between Israel and France had been friendly since Israeli independence and initially remained cordial and cooperative during the French presidency of Charles de Gaulle. France was Israel’s main supplier of military equipment, including the Mirage fighter Jet, which made up most of Israel’s air force. Israeli naval engineers traveled to France to work with Felix Amiot’s team to complete the ship order.
But this golden age of relations between the countries ended when the French imposed an arms embargo after the June 1967 war. De Gaulle stopped the shipment of the missile boats to Israel.
In response, Israel planned the Cherbourg Project, an operation to recover the five naval vessels built in Cherbourg. Israeli teams were sent to France to work in shipyards, and the Mossad established a front shipping company to buy the boats.
Israeli sailors take the five missile boats out of France on December 24, 1969, and they arrive at the Kishon port in Haifa on December 31. A diplomatic falling-out with France results from the operation, leading Israel to court the United States as an ally and source of military supplies.
