Police seek to enlist Netanyahu confidant as state witness in submarine affair

Police have offered attorney David Shimron, a longtime close adviser of Prime Minister Netanyahu, to turn state’s witness in Case 3000, the investigation into suspected corruption in the purchase of military submarines from a German company, Hebrew media reported Sunday.

According to Hadashot news (formerly Channel 2), Shimron, who is Netanyahu’s personal attorney, has so far resisted the offer, which police put on the table in the hope that he could implicate “very senior” figures.

Netanyahu, who is also Shimron’s cousin, has not been named as a suspect in the affair that has been dubbed Case 3000, but his personal negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and a number of other close associates of his — among them Shimron — are suspected in the matter.

The Hebrew-media Ynet website reported that police raided the office of several government companies on Sunday, including those of the Trans-Israel pipeline, where Shimron served as company secretary. Although the attorney has not been involved with the company for several months, investigators scanned information from Shimron’s computer, the report said.

Investigators suspect that state officials were paid bribes to influence a decision to buy three submarines, as well as corvettes to patrol Israel’s gas fields, from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, despite opposition from the Defense Ministry.

Shimron has already been questioned several times as part of the investigation by Lahav 433, the police anti-corruption unit. He served as a lawyer for Miki Ganor, the local representative of ThyssenKrupp, who turned state’s witness in July

Netanyahu is facing two other, separate criminal investigations, known as Case 1000 and Case 2000. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Case 1000 revolves around alleged illicit gifts given to Netanyahu and his family by billionaire benefactors, most notably hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. Netanyahu was questioned for the sixth time Sunday at his official residence in Jerusalem in connection with the case.

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 weaken a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.