 From 1959 to 1967 the Federal Republic of Germany was a significant supplier of military equipment and arms to Israel.However, after 1965, when West Germany backed out of an agreement to sell tanks to Israel, the United States filled the order by selling 210 M48 Patton tanks.The Merkava 4 uses a German MTU MB 873 Ka-501 air-cooled diesel V12 engine produced under license.