In a convergence of corporate necessity and geopolitical realignment, Volkswagen is converting a German automotive plant into a defense manufacturing facility, partnering with Israeli investment firm Aurelius and state-owned contractor Rafael to produce the Iron Dome missile defense system. The arrangement emerges from the automaker's broader restructuring as the industry pivots toward electric vehicles, offering a way to preserve employment rather than shutter the plant entirely. It also marks a quiet but consequential deepening of German-Israeli military-industrial ties — a development that