The frequently repeated narrative of the experiences of the Federal Republic of Germany in the post-WWII Middle East sees West Germany sitting between two chairs: its lucrative economic contacts with Arab countries pushed it into a pro-Arab direction; on the other hand, historical and moral factors militated in favour of a pro-Israeli orientation. It is generally assumed that West Germany, having balanced precariously for the better part of two decades, fell over its recognition of Israel in 1965. Based on hitherto unpublished documents found in the archives of the West German Foreign Intelligence Service (Org. Gehlen/ Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND)), which the applicant was able to access during his work as member of the Independent Commission of Historians for the History of the BND (UHK), the presentation proposes to take issue with the above mentioned scenario. It argues that West Germany’s activities in the Arab countries also intended to obtain information about Egyptian policy and military strategy by involving Germans centrally in the field of the procurement and manufacture of arms. These informations allowed Israel to formulate sound and ultimately victorious policies and strategies: the Israelis thus were served well by their West German allies. In order to draw a veil over this collaboration the Federal Republic and Israel staged an elaborate theatre performance, which did not refrain from a somewhat cynical use of the Nazi past. While this led to fierce political debates among the uninitiated and even more so in the media, the factual fallout of Israeli retaliatory actions to sabotage the work of the missile experts was rather low. If one looks behind the theatre curtains, a remarkably efficient ploy to support Israel and to foster western interests becomes visible. In conclusion: the plan of the USA (who directed the “West German” foreign intelligence community until 1955 and exerted a strong influence over it thereafter) to use the good prestige of the Germans as an economically strong, but politically and militarily weak power without colonial history and ambitions in the Middle East succeeded brilliantly. Instead of playing the role of quasi-neutral, West Germany – driven by its ambition to establish its kudos and value within the Western camp of the Cold War – played an important role in the emergence of Israel as the dominant military power in the region.