The indictments issued Dec. 5 in the “submarine affair” have left many Israelis wondering about the key question of how only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged virtually unscathed from the massive corruption scandal. How is it possible that some of the prime minister’s closest confidants — including his personal lawyer and cousin David Shimron, his designated national security adviser Avriel Bar-Yosef, former commander of the Israeli navy Eliezer Marom, and others — are up to their necks in the scandal, while the head of the pyramid manages to wriggle out without so much as police questioning under caution?
The affair was named after the purchase of three strategic attack submarines from the German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp, which Netanyahu sought to push through, but is in fact far broader than this one deal. It includes the purchase of additional military naval craft and an attempt by a group of business people, lawyers and former senior officers to take over Israel’s lucrative military acquisitions, dictate its components and rake in huge fees.
