Opposition leaders demand probe into PM’s submarine deal

Israel’s opposition parties said Monday they would seek a special parliamentary inquiry into an alleged conflict of interest over a multi-billion shekel deal to purchase new German submarines.

The deal has come under intense scrutiny after it emerged last week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, David Shimron, also works for the Germany-based conglomerate ThyssenKrupp that would supply Israel with the three submarines.The deal would allegedly give Shimron him a stake in the NIS 6 billion ($1.5 billion) defense contract. Part of the agreement could also see ThyssenKrupp construct a lucrative shipyard in Israel where it would maintain the subs.

Netanyahu in recent months has been pushing for Israel to buy the vessels, allegedly against the will of the IDF and former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon. The prime minister has said he was not aware that Shimron, who happens to also be Netanyahu’s second cousin, was representing ThyssenKrupp. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary, is looking into the matter, but said Sunday there was no reason to consider a criminal probe.

Both the prime minister and Shimron claim there was no wrongdoing or conflict of interest despite a tangle of claims and counter-claims by former and current defense officials over whether the submarines were actually necessary.

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said Monday that the attorney general, state comptroller, and Knesset must all probe the case.

“There is no alternative other than exposing the entire case to daylight,” said Herzog, adding that “the person who is afraid of daylight is Bibi Netanyahu.”

The case “raises serious questions,” Herzog said. “It’s time that you face the public and be accountable,” he said, addressing the prime minister.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid also doubled down on his call for a “thorough investigation” into allegations that Netanyahu and his personal attorney David Shimron may have faced a possible conflict of interest in the multi-billion shekel purchase of German submarines.

“I have seen, for three days already, efforts to… make the submarines affair disappear,” he said at the start of his weekly faction meeting. “It won’t work.”

Lapid said the submarine purchases came at the expense of other military equipment such as fortified APCs, saying “it’s the same budget.”

These military purchases must be “the cleanest” and “most transparent,” he said.

“You can’t tell us that ‘it’s okay, the prime minister didn’t know anything.’ If the prime minister didn’t know anything, it’s very much not okay,” he adds.

“This matter must be investigated. Why didn’t Shimron say anything to the prime minister? Why was it hidden from the cabinet and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee? How much money did he get?”

Lapid also expressed outrage over negotiations on the submarine purchase held with the German government during his time as finance minister, saying he was at a disadvantage because he was unaware of Shimron’s involvement.

“I sat down with the Germans. I was negotiating with them. They knew that the prime minister’s lawyer and cousin was working with them and I did not,” Lapid said. “I entered the room with less information than them. That is not right.”

Speaking at the Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu said he would welcome a chance to respond to the accusations. “Present your positions before the public,” the prime minister told the opposition, “we will present our positions and conclusions and the public can judge for themselves. That is how democracy works.”

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who replaced Ya’alon as defense minister, backed up the prime minister on Monday.

“Everything was done in accordance with the cabinet decision and the assessment of the defense establishment. I have no idea about the guilt of Shimron, I did not check and I do not know the details,” he said. “As far as the defense establishment is concerned everything was done in the most appropriate manner.”