After consulting with Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit, State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan has ordered the Israel Police to conduct a criminal investigation into Israel's procurement of German submarines. The inquiry conducted up until now was not a criminal proceeding. The Ministry of Justice issued the following announcement: "In order to remove all doubt and prevent erroneous reports, according to the findings to date in the inquiry, the prime minister is not among the suspects in the affair."
The Ministry of Justice also stated, "The decision was made following information gathered by the police in the framework of the inquiry conducted in recent months, and in view of the evidence collected, which raises a reasonable suspicion that some of those involved in the affair committed public corruption offenses."
The affair concerns suspicions that a tender for the procurement of defensive vessels was manipulated in favor of ThyssenKrupp, a German ship maker. The suspects include former Israel Navy Commander Vice-Admiral (res.) Eliezer Marom; Michael Ganor, the intermediary who represented ThyssenKrupp in the negotiations, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyer, Adv. David Shimron.
The Prime Minister's Office asserted early this month that the Israel navy and the Ministry of Defense director general wanted to buy the ships. Former Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon also testified to the police in the affair. Under questioning, Ya'alon claimed that he had not been involved in the negotiations to buy three more submarines, adding that Netanyahu had asked to buy two anti-submarine warships without any prior discussion by the Ministry of Defense.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 28, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017