Israeli Police Search Defense Ministry In German Submarine Probe

Israeli police raided the Ministry of Defense as part of the investigation into the negotiations of the naval transaction of several billion shekels about a shipbuilding contract involving German ThyssenKrupp.

The purchase of patrol ships and submarines was carefully examined after it was found that David Shimron, the personal lawyer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also served as an adviser to ThyssenKrupp group, the shipbuilder that was awarded the contract. Police officers from the Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit entered the Ahaz Ben-Ari office of the defense ministry in Tel Aviv and removed some information from the computers, according to a report by the Tenth chain.

The data concerned the cancellation of an international tender for the construction of four warships to protect offshore natural gas platforms in the Mediterranean belonging to Israel.

The contract was finally signed with ThyssenKrupp. In the 2015 agreement, worth 430 million euros, ThyssenKrupp is committed to delivering four "Sa'ar 6 corvettes" within 5 years.

The reason for the withdrawal of the tender for the construction of ships for the platforms is therefore subject to many questions.

Last month the opposition parties said they would call on a special parliamentary commission to investigate the issue of conflict of interest in another contract for the purchase of submarines from the German shipbuilder.

ThyssenKrupp’s shipyards in the north German port city of Kiel are fully set up to start work on the newest submarine for Israel’s navy. The vessel, to be named Dakar, is supposed to be delivered in two years. But it’s looking less and less likely that delivery will be on time. A squabble over costs has already delayed the Dakar, Handelsblatt had reported in November.

“It looks increasingly likely that the contracts for another three extra submarines that were due to be built after Dakar will also be cancelled amid allegations of corruption. That would mean that the Dakar would be the last Israeli naval vessel to roll off a Kiel slipway for the foreseeable future. That could be the death blow to the shipyards,” the news daily reported quoting unnamed sources as saying.