Committee investigating Submarine Affair to begin proceedings Tuesday

The ministerial committee of inquiry investigating Case 3000, known as the “Submarine Affair,” will begin proceedings on Tuesday.

The proceedings will be subject to security clearances consistent with instructions from the attorney general, and will meet three times a week, as per the determination of the commission’s head.

The commission is investigating circumstances surrounding the procurement of submarines and naval vessels from the German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s involvement.

It was was established by Defense Minister Benny Gantz earlier last week.

Former Defense Ministry acquisitions director Yael Grill, an appointed member of the committee, has decided to withdraw her candidacy in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest and to ensure that the committee functions smoothly.

Yisraela Friedman, who served in a variety of procurement roles at the Defense Ministry, will serve in Grill’s place.

The following defense and legal consolations, as well as the initial meetings, will be closed to the public due to a decision made by the head of the committee, Tel Aviv District Court judge Amnon Straschnov, citing the interest of protecting information security.

The committee announced that it will keep later deliberations, which do not expose classified information, open to the public and the media, and will circulate meeting protocols of classified sessions following the removal of information that could compromise Israeli security.

The Submarine Affair is an ongoing scandal involving a multi-billion dollar submarine deal with Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG conglomerate in 2016, in which the political class has made accusations against Netanyahu despite his being cleared by law enforcement.

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit has alleged that senior officials were bribed to advocate for the purchase of unnecessary extra submarines and military boats from the company.

Among to those close to Netanyahu and already implicated in the affair are lawyer David Shimron, a confidant and cousin of Netanyahu; David Sharan, a former chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office; and Avriel Bar-Yosef, a former deputy national security adviser – all of whom are expected to be indicted by Mandelblit.

Nevertheless, the attorney-general concluded that there is no proof Netanyahu knew about the scheme, and that at most, he pushed for buying the vessels under suspicious circumstances.

Gil Hoffman and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.