Netanyahu: I'll be with you a long time

Benjamin Netanyahu photo: Reuters

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The prime minister dismissed the submarine purchase affair as "a balloon", while more details emerged in Germany of his lawyer's involvement.

"Shift down a gear, I'm going to be with you for a long time to come," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at a meeting of the Likud party in the Knesset yesterday, against the background of the reports swirling about the involvement of his personal lawyer, David Shimron, in the purchase of submarines from Germany for the Israel Navy.

"There are those who all the time insist on blackening our people; there is simply a depression industry here," Netanyahu continued, referring to the media reports about the submarine affair, "It's no surprise that the people in the depression industry are those who float balloons full of air week in and week out. As quickly as they fill up, they empty out."

Meanwhile, it was reported by German newspaper Handelsblatt yesterday that Israeli businessman Michael Ganor will gain €10-30 million from the deal whereby Israel will purchase three submarines from ThyssenKrupp. The investigative report is based on sources at the German engineering company. According to the report, Ganor has represented ThyssenKrupp in Israel since 2009, and is due a 2% commission on the deals for the sale of submarines from the HDW shipyard in Kiel, a unit of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).

The deal under which Israel will purchase three new submarines starting in the next decade is estimated to be worth €1.5 billion. The political storm in Israel began when it was revealed last week that Adv. Shimron was hired by Ganor in connection with his work as ThyssenKrupp's representative.

Handelsblatt also reports that Shimron's involvement was broader than was known up to now, and that he was present at a meeting with ThyssenKrupp managers. Last summer, the German newspaper obtained thousands of internal ThyssenKrupp documents. Since then, it has published a series of reports exposing suspicions of bribery and irregularities in connection with sales of submarines to Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other countries. These documents may well be the basis of the report published yesterday.

The newspaper says that ThyssenKrupp also uses Ganor's services in connection with reciprocal procurement, or "offset purchases" that it is meant to make from Israeli firms, so that his commission is likely to be even higher.

ThyssenKrupp told "Globes" in response to the report: "TKMS works exclusively with Mr Ganor in Israel as a sales representative. Our sales representatives are obliged under their contracts to consult TKMS before employing sub-contractors." Company sources told Handelsblatt that there were no signs that Ganor had acted improperly, but that an internal inquiry had been opened in the company because of the media reports.