Attorney general vows no special treatment in navy affair probe
Avichai Mandelblit says info from police investigations chief prompted about-face on opening of inquiry
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit pledged Thursday not to give special treatment to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal attorney in a preliminary police probe into suspected conflict of interest regarding a major defense deal.
“Everyone is equal before the law and nobody is above the law,” Mandelblit said of his decision to open an inquiry into attorney David Shimron’s role in business deals involving the German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp.
Speaking to lawyers at a conference in Haifa, Mandelblit said the move followed new information he received Wednesday from police investigations chief Meni Yitzhaki.
This “changed the foundation of evidence… in a way that justified clarifying the allegations,” he said.
Mandelblit, who previously served as cabinet secretary for Netanyahu, had initially declined to open a criminal inquiry into whether Shimron used his influence to push deals for the German firm.
“If this inquiry reveals that there is reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense, we will move over to a criminal inquiry,” he said, adding that he hoped the police would give him the results “within a short time.”
A Channel 2 report Wednesday said the inquiry — which is not yet a full-blown investigation — would focus not on the purchase of three Dolphin submarines from the Germany company, which has dominated the headlines, but rather on a separate 2014 Defense Ministry tender for naval ships, also involving ThyssenKrupp, to protect Israel’s Mediterranean natural gas field.
It is still unclear what new information Mandelblit was referring to, but Channel 10 television, which broke the affair last week, revealed Tuesday an email it said was “proof” that Shimron used his close relationship to Netanyahu to lobby for ThyssenKrupp.
Shimron said Wednesday he was sure the new probe would clear him of any wrongdoing.
The Times of Israel Community.