German submarine affair: Israel detains 6 including Netanyahu associate

Police detained six suspects Monday morning on suspicion of corruption offenses in the investigation of Israel’s acquisition of three German-made submarines, termed Case 3,000.

The six suspects were government officials and worked in the private sector at the time of the submarine deal, police said. Three of the suspects are senior officials and one is close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They were detained on suspicion of bribery, fraud, money laundering, and tax offenses.

Questions over the 2014 submarine deal surfaced in November with a Channel 10 report that Netanyahu’s personal lawyer David Shimron worked as an intermediary for Miki Ganor, the Israeli representative of the German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp.

Shimron is reportedly suspected of pushing to buy some $1.5 billion in submarines from the German firm over the objections of the defense establishment, including then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Shimron has denied any wrongdoing in the case. Netanyahu, who is not a suspect in the case, has also denied any wrongdoing.

Netanyahu says Israel Naval submarine contract with Germany is only for strengthening security , amid corruption probe , Nov.23.16 (credit: REUTERS)

In February, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit authorized a full-blow criminal investigation into the submarine affair, stating that police gathered enough evidence to raise suspicions, “that some of those involved in the affair committed crimes of public corruption.”

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon has threatened “to go public” if Case 3000 does not produce an indictment. Ya’alon stopped the planned purchase of the submarines, but after he stepped down in May 2016 as defense minister, Netanyahu renewed the negotiations with Berlin.

Ya’alon has testified to police investigators in affair offering the details about the contacts Netanyahu held with German officials regarding the acquisition of three submarines and several other warships, all of which happened without the knowledge of the security establishment.

ThyssenKrupp, which sold the Israel Navy its newest Dolphin-class submarines, has been accused of bribing officials around the world to promote sales of its submarines. According to the German financial newspaper Handelsblatt, ThyssenKrupp opened an internal investigation into suspicions that employees of its Marine Force International subsidiary had bribed officials in Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Pakistan and Indonesia.

In June, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that German National Security Council approved the purchase of the three submarines by Israel. However, the contract reportedly includes a clause giving Germany the right to cancel the deal if any improprieties or criminal offenses are proven as a result of the current police investigation.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

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