Ships owned by the Ofer brothers
that docked in Iran may have carried Israel Air Force Blackhawk helicopters, which were used by commando units, the
Sunday Times reported.
The paper claimed in the Sunday report that the helicopters were concealed in special containers for infiltration into Iran.
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The
Times reported that the
commando teams may have conducted reconnaissance missions against Iran’s
secret nuclear sites, enabling the Israelis to reach Iran without
arousing suspicion.
Last month, the US State Department imposed sanctions on Tanker Pacific
Ltd., owned by the Ofer brothers, for selling a tanker to an Iranian
company in breach of sanctions, and thus indirectly assisting that
country's nuclear power program.
The affair caused the Ofer family great embarrassment in Israel and
there have also been revelations that ships owned by the family
occasionally docked in Iran. This did not contravene international
sanctions but undermined Israeli efforts to isolate Iran.
With
the Ofer Brothers affair looming in the background, the Ministerial
Legislative Committee passed, on Sunday, a new bill prohibiting
investment in companies that trade with Iran.
The bill, sponsored
by Likud MK Carmel Schama Hacohen and co-signed by 15 MKs from across
the political spectrum, aims to apply an existing law prohibiting banks
and other financial institutions from investing in companies that trade
with Iran, to all public and private companies as well as to private
individuals. The bill stipulates that anyone found to be in business
relations with such companies, be liable to a year's prison sentence and
a fine of NIS five million, or three times the amount the investor
earned from dealings with Iran, whichever amount is higher.
The bill passed and will go through the Knesset’s legislation process in coordination with the government.