Former Israel Navy commander arrested in 'submarines affair' identified
Shai Brosh is suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
By UDI SHAHAMUpdated: SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 12:09Shai Brosh(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
The former commander of the Israel Navy commando unit who was arrested this week in the so-called “submarines affair” investigation has been identified as Brig.-Gen. (res.) Shai Brosh.Brosh is suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. His remand was extended until Wednesday.Brosh supposedly planned to open a company together with Miki Ganor, the former Israel representative of German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp and another suspect in the case, but the deal never went through. The police suspect this was done intentionally so Ganor would have to pay Brosh; in return, the latter would assist him with his influence over decision-makers.Brosh refused to hire a lawyer to represent him, but the state provided one as required by law. His court-appointed attorney said his client has nothing to do with this police investigation, and that the only reason he was summoned is because he tried to open a company with Ganor.“The only connection between my client and the affair is that he is a friend of Ganor,” the attorney said. “It is a loose end of the case, and he was driven into it against his will.”Brosh, who was born in Kibbutz Hagoshrim in 1952, commanded the Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13) naval commando unit from 1987 to 1991. In April 1988, commandos from the unit along with a force from the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) carried out the operation to assassinate Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), the co-founder of Fatah, in Tunis.Brosh was later appointed as head of the Navy Intelligence Division.Case 3000 is a police corruption investigation into Israel’s purchase of German-made naval vessels. Ganor was the Israeli representative of German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp and became a state’s witness in late July.Ganor’s testimony focuses on deals he conducted with the Defense Ministry, but its details are under a gag order. A senior police figure said that Ganor “provides great material” for the investigation.The questioning of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff David Sharan and former cabinet minister Eliezer “Modi” Zandberg also continued on Tuesday.According to Ganor, Sharan was in the center of a bribe money route arrangement, Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday.It was reported that Ganor hired the services of Zachi Lieber, a political strategist who was also arrested and questioned earlier this week. According to the report, Ganor transferred the bribe money through Lieber to Sharan in order to influence him.Sharan was supposedly questioned about events that took place while he was serving under minister Yuval Steinitz and was chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.Meanwhile on Tuesday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit asked the High Court of Justice to reject a petition that demanded his office question Netanyahu in the submarine affair, Case 3000.Mandelblit said he has complete professional discretion about whom to question and when.The attorney-general has ordered Netanyahu questioned as a suspect in the “illegal gifts” Case 1000, and the alleged media bribery Case 2000, but maintains the prime minister is not a suspect in Case 3000, though he may at some point be called as a fact witness.Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
