Bribery Charges Urged Against Furnace Close to Netanyahu in Submarine Case

JERUSALEM – The Israeli police on Thursday recommended the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidants and three others to a sprawling bribery case involving the multibillion-dollar purchase of submarines and missile boats from Germany.

Mr. Netanyahu was not a suspect in the naval-acquisition scandal, which has been called Case 3000, and it was questioned. The police have recommended criminal bribery, fraud and breach of trust against Mr. Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations.

The police said they had sufficient evidence to charge David Shimron, a second cousin of Mr. Netanyahu's bribery and money laundering.

Mr. Shimron, they said, had been working for the past few months on the subject of Michael Ganor, an Israeli agent working for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, the shipyard that build the vessels. In exchange, Mr. Shimron was paid a "reward for success" of nearly $ 75,000 for "opening doors" and influencing officials of the deal, the police said. Mr. Ganor turned state's witness in 2017.

David Sharan, who was chief of staff to Mr. Netanyahu from late 2014 to 2016. The police said Mr. Sharan received $ 35,000 from Mr. Ganor from 2013, when Mr. Sharan was an assistant to the Minister of Finance, until 2016, though the money has been paid by other businessmen to conceal the connection.

The police recommended Mr. Netanyahu's inner circle: Avriel Bar-Yosef, a brigadier general reserve and deputy head of the National Security Council, who was Mr. Netanyahu's nominee to be his national security adviser until the scandal broke; and Eliezer (Modi) Zandberg, who was Mr. Netanyahu's appointee as chairman of Keren Hayesod, an organization that leads fundraising efforts for Israel in dozens of countries.

Mr. Bar-Yosef is accused of helping Mr. Ganor get hired to represent ThyssenKrupp and then taking a cut of his fees. Mr. Zandberg is accused of using $ 27,000.

With elections expected early next year, it is unclear how the police recommendations in the submarine case will affect Mr. Netanyahu's standing. The growing list of people close to the Israeli leader who could face criminal charges could be used against him by his challengers. But Mr. Netanyahu could not have had any more problems with the submarine acquisition, he has maintained all along.

Ehud Barak, the Prime Minister who has been a vocal critic of Mr. Netanyahu's, wrote on Twitter in Hebrew that the indictments amounted to "collapse and betrayal of state security."

If he knew, he belongs in prison. If he did not, he was not qualified to run a state, "Mr. Barak wrote, adding:" Treasonous, disgraceful and contemptible. "

Another confidential Netanyahu, Yitzhak Molho, was also caught up in Case 3000: The police said he had met with Mr. Ganor about the submarine deal without reporting the meeting. Mr. Molho's dual role as a top diplomatic emissary for Mr. Netanyahu and a partner with Mr. Shimron in a leading Israeli law firm. But the police said that they had insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Molho with a crime.