BREAKING NEWS

Former PM Barak: State has obligation to investigate submarine sale

Former prime minister Ehud Barak wrote on social media Saturday evening that Israel has an "obligation to investigate" the proposed sale of a German submarine reportedly being brokered by a close confidant of the current premier.
"Submarines are vital, but more essential is the public trust," Barak wrote on Twitter. "There are a lot of question marks," he continued, adding "therefore, as (Zionist Union MK Isaac Herzog) suggested, there's an obligation to investigate."
Barak posted the statement following a Channel 10 report that claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was utilizing his  personal lawyer and relative, David Shimron, in order to purchase three new submarines from Germany.
According to the report, Shimron worked with Miki Ganor, the representative of the German company building the submarines, to move the maintenance service of the submarines to a shipyard owned by Ganor’s company. The two are said to have attempted to get the consent the workers at the shipyard, meeting with Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn as well as the chairman of the IDF workers.
Following the report, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday asked State Attorney Shai Nitzan to examine the arms acquisition from Germany.
Mandelblit, the government’s legal adviser, asked Nitzan, in charge of the state prosecution, to check whether Netanyahu’s right-hand man  violated a conflict of interest agreement.