Germany Approves Israel Sub Deal Pending Graft Probe

Germany's National Security Council has approved the sale of three advanced submarines to Israel, but with a caveat that the deal will be scrapped should corruption charges be proven in an ongoing investigation of the transaction, Germany's Der Speigel newspaper reported Friday.

The $1.5 billion deal will see Israel acquire three more Dolphin submarines from German shipmaker ThyssenKrupp, which are reportedly equipped to carry missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

The deal came under scrutiny last year, amid allegations that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal lawyer, David Shimron, pushed for multi-billion shekel deals in favor of ThyssenKrupp, which is his client in Israel.

In late February, the Israeli Police announced that there was to be a formal investigation into the so-called "submarine affair", however it was emphasized that Netanyahu was not suspected of wrongdoing.

Both Israel and Germany agreed to the addition of a clause to the memorandum of understanding on the deal in April according to which the deal will be cancelled if any of the corruption allegations are substantiated. The clause reportedly came reportedly at the urging of the German government.

Israel already has five of the state-of-the-art German submarines, with a sixth scheduled for delivery this year. (end of excerpt)

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