Opposition chief: Netanyahu must resign if questioned as suspect in subs probe

The head of the opposition Zionist Union said Saturday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must resign if he is questioned as a suspect in a criminal case involving suspected corruption in the multi-billion-shekel purchase of naval vessels and submarines from a German shipbuilder.

“If Netanyahu is questioned under caution in the submarine affair he must resign,” Avi Gabbay said at a cultural event at Kibbutz Yagur. ״The mixture of corruption in the security of the state will lead the Germans to cancel the submarine deal and directly harm our security.”

While Netanyahu has not been named as a suspect in so-called Case 3000, a Hadashot TV news report on Friday said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has authorized investigators to take testimony from Netanyahu next week in the probe, and — if the need arises — to question him under caution.

A number of close associates of Netanyahu’s, including his two personal lawyers, have been arrested or questioned in the case.

The TV report said investigators may also question the prime minister in the Bezeq corruption probe, known as Case 4000.

Hadashot reported that police are interested in getting Netanyahu’s version of events regarding Case 4000 as soon as possible, as officials believe key suspects in the case, several of whom have been in jail all week, could soon be released home, and could then begin communicating with one another to coordinate their statements.

In Case 4000, Netanyahu is alleged to have provided regulatory benefits to Israel’s largest telephone company, Bezeq, in exchange for Bezeq’s chief shareholder, Shaul Elovitch, giving Netanyahu and his family positive coverage on the Walla news site, which Elovitch owns.

Earlier Saturday, former prime minister Ehud Barak predicted that Netanyahu’s days in government were numbered, and that the current Israeli leader would be unseated in the next elections.

“The chapter called Benjamin Netanyahu is over,” Barak said during a cultural event in Hadera, according to the Walla news site. “If [Netanyahu] were to call elections now, the public would not elect him, and he would receive a humiliating and embarrassing defeat.”

Over the past year, Barak has become an outspoken critic of Netanyahu, broadcasting diatribes against the prime minister and his governing coalition on Twitter, radio, and television.

Late last year, Barak unleashed an unprecedentedly harsh condemnation of Netanyahu’s policies, arguing that the current government was endangering the entire Zionist project as it inches closer to an annexation of the West Bank, “precluding any permanent separation from the Palestinians.”

In a fiery New York Times op-ed, Barak, who some believe is mulling a re-entry into politics, also accused the Netanyahu-led government of showing a general disrespect for the rule of law, and claimed that it had “declared war” on the courts, the media, civil society and the ethical code of the IDF.

Netanyahu has increasingly faced opposition calls to resign as investigations into his conduct have intensified. Last week, police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for fraud, breach of trust, and bribery in two cases.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife are alleged to have received illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, totaling NIS 1 million ($282,000). In return, Netanyahu is alleged by police to have intervened on Milchan’s behalf in matters relating to legislation, business dealings, and visa arrangements.

Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister weaken a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

The prime minister has this week been linked to an additional affair, dubbed Case 1270, which involves his former family spokesman Nir Hefetz allegedly offering in 2015 to have judge Hila Gerstel appointed attorney general if she agreed to halt an investigation focused on the prime minister’s wife, Sara.

Netanyahu, who has not been named as a suspect in the case, has strongly denied involvement in the incident and said he thought it highly unlikely that Hefetz had advanced any such idea.

At the same time, a flurry of developments were reported in Case 4000 this week, following the arrest of a number of figures involved in the investigation.

Netanyahu was acting communications minister at the time when several allegedly illicit deals were made with Beqez’s controlling shareholder Elovitch, one of which included helping the telecommunications giant buy the satellite cable provider Yes, overriding antitrust issues raised by ministry officials.

On Tuesday, Shlomo Filber, former director-general of the Communications Ministry and longtime Netanyahu confidant, signed a deal to turn state’s witness and possibly incriminate Netanyahu in the affair.

Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing in all the cases.