Israeli police on Wednesday announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer David Shimron is the individual with close ties to the Israeli leader who has been questioned in connection with the so-called "submarine affair."
Shimron's identity as one of six individuals taken for questioning on Monday was protected by gag order until now.
The investigation, also known as "Case 3000," centers on allegations that Shimron, pushed for multi-billion shekel deals in favor of German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp, which is his client in Israel.
Former vice admiral Eliezer Marom was taken in for questioning on Tuesday, and six other individuals were detained on Monday, including Miki Ganor, a senior Israeli employee of ThyssenKrupp, and Avriel Bar Yosef, who was nominated by Netanyahu to serve as head of Israel's National Security Council but his candidacy was withdrawn after he was suspected of bribery, money laundering, fraud and breach of trust by Israeli police.
The arrest of Ganor and Bar Yosef was extended until Thursday and the detention of attorney Ronen Shemer, Ganor's assistant, was extended until Wednesday.
In December 2016, anti-corruption police raided the office of a legal adviser at the Defense Ministry and impounded information concerning the cancellation of a public tender for the construction of warships, with the contract then going to ThyssenKrupp.
Indictment coming?
The graft scandal over the purchase of military submarines from Germany will precipitate the downfall of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister told CNN on Tuesday.
Moshe Ya'alon, who resigned from Netanyahu's government last year, and has harshly criticized the premier, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that "Too many issues are under investigation. I believe that at the end we will witness indictment."
Earlier this year Ya'alon told police Netanyahu helped ThyssenKrupp – the German conglomerate making deals with Israel to the tune of billions of dollars – circumvent the regular procurement process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, is seen while visiting the navy ship INS Eilat in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
Ya'alon had claimed that he "vociferously objected” to Israel purchasing the submarines, and that reports that reports that an Israeli attorney known for close ties to Netanyahu was appointed to the director's board of a subsidiary firm linked to the ThyssenKrupp, were 'very disturbing'."
In response to Ya'alon's comments on CNN, an official in the Prime Minister's Office gave a statement stating that the former official's allegations are "baseless."
"Unfortunately, he has turned political differences into a smear campaign against the Prime Minister. For example, he has tried to taint Prime Minister Netanyahu's decisions on defense purchasing, but the attorney general's office has explicitly stated that the Prime Minister wasn't even under investigation in this matter. The Prime Minister is guided by one overriding consideration: ensuring the security of Israel."
Ya'alon resigned saying extremists had taken over the government and country after he clashed with Netanyahu over the army’s handling of a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
“I told the prime minister this morning that due to his conduct in recent developments, and in light of my lack of trust in him, I am resigning from the government and Knesset (parliament) and taking a break from political life,” he said.
