German prosecutor closes bribery investigation into Submarine Affair
"There is no sufficient suspicion of criminal offenses against specific domestic persons," a spokesperson for the Bochum Public Prosecution Office said.
By TOBIAS SIEGALWILL THE Submarine Affair eventually sink Netanyahu?(photo credit: BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)
The German Federal Prosecutor on Wednesday closed criminal investigations surrounding the sale of submarines to Israel by German multinational conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG, the German Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bochum announced, according to German news portal t-online.Case 3000, known in Israel as the Submarine Affair, has led to one of the most comprehensive and discussed corruption investigations in Israel’s history, and is still considered by many a burning issue on the national agenda, considering the possible security and political implications it holds.Surrounding the sale of several submarines and warships to the Israeli government by ThyssenKrupp between 2009-2017, the investigation carried out by Israel’s crime and corruption unit Lahav 433 has found sufficient evidence of bribery, fraud and money laundering to indict several Israeli senior officials, including several close confidants to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the time.In Germany, a special unit for white-collar crime and corruption within the Bochum Public Prosecutor’s Office decided in March of 2019 to launch an investigation into an unnamed German citizen for possible corruption offenses based on the “evaluation of press reports” surrounding the scandal, German daily newspaper Handelsblatt reported at the time.However, it seems like that investigation did not yield enough results to justify further actions. “There is no sufficient suspicion of criminal offenses against specific domestic persons,” a spokesperson for the Bochum Public Prosecution Office told t-online.And while the German report noted that the case won’t lead to any criminal consequences for the time being, it did note that the case is still very much alive in Israel and may lead to new investigations in the future. The report mentioned Miki Ganor, who functioned as the mediator between Israel and the marine division of ThyssenKrupp between 2009 and 2017, and noted that he had “made extensive statements” about giving bribery to different involved parties, a statement made by Ganor early on during the investigation which he recanted in 2019.In Israel, a ministerial committee established by Defense Minister Benny Gantz in November was tasked with investigating the affair, but was dissolved shortly after when its members resigned due to restrictions and limitations imposed by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit. Gantz has since demanded that new members be appointed and the committee allowed to continue its work, “because it is an issue of paramount security, economic and public importance,” he noted.The Submarine Affair has become a symbol for Netanyahu’s opposition in Israel. Displays of massive inflatable submarine props have become a common sight at Balfour Street in Jerusalem and outside of the Netanyahu personal residence in Caesarea, where thousands of protesters on a weekly basis continue to demand Netanyahu’s resignation considering his pending cases.
