Netanyahu: German sub sale progressing despite investigation
PM says Berlin satisfied there is no need to hold up the deal, which has been mired in suspicions of bribery and corruption
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered assurances Thursday that a controversial deal to purchase three submarines from a German shipbuilder is going ahead as planned despite an investigation into alleged corruption in the agreement, which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaking to reporters in London, where he is visiting to take part in centenary celebrations for the 1917 Balfour Deceleration, Netanyahu told Channel 10 that the the purchase “has not stopped even one millimeter.”
Israel and Germany were set to sign a memorandum of understanding in July but Germany imposed a freeze due to the investigation, dubbed “Case 3000.”
“The Germans would not have signed a deal if they hadn’t received clear guarantees from experts on the matter. You can expect a drop in the suspense,” the prime minister said, referring to the intense media attention surrounding the investigation and the deal.
Last week Netanyahu announced that Israel had officially signed the agreement to buy the subs from shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp.
The purchase of the Dolphin-class submarines, costing a total of 2 billion euros, has been mired in controversy since it came to light that a close ally of Netanyahu was representing ThyssenKrupp. A preliminary probe snowballed into an ever-expanding investigation that has seen several senior officials arrested.
While Netanyahu is not suspected in the case, his personal lawyer, David Shimron, has been questioned several times by Lahav 433, the police anti-corruption unit.
ThyssenKrupp has said it found no reason to stop the deal, but Channel 10 reported on Wednesday that the head of the shipyard and the company’s representative in Israel have both been moved to other positions.
While ThyssenKrupp maintains publicly that they were moved in a management restructuring, sources told the TV station that company directors were annoyed at the two employees for not following regulations requiring them to report that Shimron, a figure close to the Israeli primer minister, was involved in the deal. The two employees, who weren’t named in the report, are not suspected of wrongdoing.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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