Police to probe Netanyahu submarine purchase scandal
Israel’s attorney general has ordered police to launch an investigation into a scandal involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the billion-dollar purchase of three submarines from Germany.
The order by Avichai Mandelblit represents a volte-face after he suggested last week that police did not need to be involved in the inquiry.
The change of mind came in the wake of “new evidence” from the case of former deputy security council head Avriel Bar-Yosef, showing "a serious conflict of interest" on the part of Netanyahu.
Bar-Yosef was arrested earlier this month on charges of corruption and taking bribes.
Reports emerged last week that Netanyahu's personal lawyer and one of closest confidants, David Shimron, was representing the German arms manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, which is making the submarines.
Israel’s Hebrew-language Channel 10 television network later disclosed an email it claimed was proof that Shimron used his close relationship with Netanyahu to lobby for the deal.
ThyssenKrupp has announced that it believed there was no misconduct in the purchase.
Former minister of military affairs, Moshe Ya’alon, recently alleged that he was opposed to the submarine deal and had been sidelined on the purchase plans, fueling suspicions over the impropriety of the controversial affair.
Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog has also demanded a Knesset commission of inquiry to be established.
Israel already has five Dolphin-class German INS Rahav submarines. The sixth state-of-the-art submarine is due for delivery in 2017. The Dolphins reportedly can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.
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