Ex-Netanyahu aide, top officers said arrested in submarine probe
Early-morning raids follow testimony of key suspect who turned state’s witness in corruption-tainted billion-dollar deal with German shipyard
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Police made a fresh round of arrests early Sunday, detaining a former official from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and several military officers in connection to the ongoing corruption investigation into a multi-million dollar purchase of naval vessels from Germany.
The arrest of the six comes following the police testimony of Miki Ganor, the Israeli agent of German shipbuilder ThyssenKryupp, who turned state’s witness in the investigation.
Among those detained were also several senior IDF officers as part of an ongoing investigation into the so-called “Case 3000,” or the “submarine affair.”
A police statement on Sunday confirmed the arrests, and said they had their homes and offices searched “in order to apprehend documents relevant to the investigation.”
It said the six were being held for suspected financial and ethical offenses.
Investigators suspect that Ganor, along with former National Security Council deputy head Avriel Bar-Yosef, paid bribes in connection to the decision to buy three submarines from ThyssenKrupp, despite opposition from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
They also reportedly influenced decisions to buy naval corvettes to protect the gas fields and awarded ThyssenKrupp a contract to service other naval vessels.
Netanyahu is not suspected in the case but his personal lawyer, David Shimron, has been questioned several times by police’s anti-corruption unit Lahav 433.
Ganor, who turned state’s witness in July, has claimed that Shimron (who is also his attorney) was to receive 20 percent of his own commission of $45 million, Channel 2 and Channel 10 reported last month.
Shimron was hired by Ganor to negotiate the ship and submarine purchases.
In a statement given to his attorneys, Shimron reportedly denied he was to receive a cut from the deal beyond his legal fees.
Ganor was suspected of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime. He was arrested in July and has since reportedly been transferred to a police safe house.
In July, Germany indefinitely postponed signing the naval agreement with Israel, citing the expanding corruption investigation.
While Netanyahu is not suspected in this case, he is being investigated in two other corruption cases that have also implicated other former senior aides in his office.
Netanyahu’s former chief of staff Ari Harow agreed to turn state’s witness in the corruption investigations involving the premier, which are known as Case 1000 and Case 2000.
In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are suspected of receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.
Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes that would have seen the prime minister hobble a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.
Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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