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Suspect at centre of “Case 3000” could become state witness
Mickey Ganor, the suspect at the center of the police investigation into the submarine deal between the Israeli government and Thyssen-Krupp, is in talks to become a state witness.
Ganor is suspected of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a criminal offence. He is also alleged to have paid bribes to former Navy commander, Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom, and to Avriel Bar-Yosef, who was the Deputy Director of the National Security Council.
Ganor is also accused of hiring David Shimron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cousin, personal attorney and close confidant, to represent him in deals for purchasing submarines and naval vessels so that he could take advantage of Shimron’s status to advance the deal unlawfully.
Yediot Ahronoth reports that “beyond the fact that the evidence in the case will likely strengthen as a result of his testimony, this will be an official admission by the person who brokered the submarine deal that the deal was tainted by corruption.”
The investigation centres on the involvement of Marom, Shimron and Ganor, a real estate businessman and a former Major in the navy who has been employed by Thyssen-Krupp since 2009.
The allegations in “Case 3000” surround a purchase agreement between Israel and Germany for three additional submarines (Israel is in possession of five with a sixth arriving in 2019,) despite opposition from then Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon and several high-ranking IDF officers. They also relate to an international tender for the construction of patrol boats which was under discussion with three different South Korean shipyards before being subsequently cancelled and given to Thyssen-Krupp.
Management of the deal was removed from the jurisdiction of the Defence Ministry, who opposed giving the contracts to Thyssen-Krupp, and brought under the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister. At the same time, a request was placed by Ganor and Shimron for the privatisation of the maintenance of the ships, the contract for which was subsequently granted to a newly created subsidiary company of Thyssen-Krupp.
It is also alleged that, contrary to normal Israeli government policy, permission was given in 2014 by Israel to Germany to sell four advanced submarines and two anti-submarine ships to Egypt, an act that could undermine Israel’s qualitative military edge over its neighbour.