The Israel Police on Thursday recommended filing criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyer and six other suspects implicated in a corruption case involving a €2 billion sale of German submarines to Israel in 2016.
The deal has been the subject of a corruption investigation since 2017. Netanyahu has been questioned by the police's Major Crimes Unit in the case, but investigators have repeatedly stressed that he is not a suspect.
A statement by the police said investigators believe that the evidence in the case, dubbed "Case 3,000," justifies indicting attorney David Shimron on suspicion of facilitating bribery, receiving illicit benefits under aggravated circumstances, and money laundering.
The other suspects in the case include former National Security Council Deputy Director Avriel Bar Yosef, Israeli businessman Miki Ganor, former Israeli Navy Commander Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom, former Naval Commando Unit Commander Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shai Brosh, former Science and National Infrastructure Minister Eliezer Sandberg, and former prime minister's bureau chief David Sharan.
Ganor, who has turned state's witness in the case, is expected to serve one year in jail. He was also fined in the amount of 10 million shekels ($2.7 million).
Bar Yosef is facing charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and conspiracy to commit a crime. Marom, Brosh and Sharan are each suspected of similar offenses, as well as of money laundering. Sandberg faces charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and issuing fictitious invoices.
The only suspicion investigated by the police for which an indictment was not recommended concerned Shimron's law partner, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, who is also Netanyahu's political adviser. The police said the case against him was closed, citing "insufficient evidence indicating the commission of a crime."
The police have presented their recommendations to the State Attorney's Office. State Attorney Shai Nitzan will have the final say on the nature of the indictments in the case.
German shipyard ThyssenKrupp, a key focus of the investigation, issued a statement saying, "As of now, the information at our disposal comes only from the media; we have received no other official information. As soon as we are in possession of all of the facts, we will consider additional measures in the framework of the legal options available to us."
ThyssenKrupp previously announced that its internal investigation had found no failures on the company's part, and put the blame for any bribery suspicions on Ganor, its representative in Israel.
Shimron has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.
"I did not commit any crime," he told Channel 12. "I acted as [Ganor's] attorney. I'm not now nor have I ever been his partner. I was paid legally and even if is some matters I received a commission, that, too, is legal. … I believe – I'm certain – this case will not end up with an indictment."
A spokesman for the German government said that Berlin remains committed to Israel's security.
"This police investigation is an internal Israeli matter and the German government does not comment on such issues," he said.
Asked whether potential indictments in the case will affect future sales of German submarines to Israel, he said, "In principle, there is no reason for Germany to change its position on its historical commitment to Israel's security."
