Ya’alon: I ‘vociferously objected’ to submarine deal, probe needed

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon confirms that he “vociferously objected” to a deal signed by Benjamin Netanyahu to purchase three more submarines for Israel’s navy fleet, arguing that the military did not need additional submarines, not then and “not in the near future.”

“I don’t know what happened or what was signed after I left the Defense Ministry, but Raviv Drucker’s report on the matter is very disturbing and warrants a thorough probe by the relevant authorities,” Ya’alon writes of Facebook.

According to a Channel 10 report by journalist Raviv Drucker earlier this week, David Shimron, who has spent years defending Netanyahu against dozens of claims of malpractice and misuse of office for personal gain, is being accused of a serious conflict of interest due to his links to the German shipbuilder attempting to sell the vessels to Israel.

The former defense minister said that the statement provided Thursday by the NSA on the issue was “lacking and did not reflect the reality as I understood it.”

The NSA, a body operated under the auspices of the Prime Minster’s Office, released statements challenging what it called “a wave of false reports” and saying that deal received Ya’alon’s full support.

In another statement released Thursday, the NSA said that it was involved “in every stage of the purchase of the submarines” and that the process was handled correctly.