the government will approve Sunday a State Commission of Inquiry into the Submarine Affair

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave the green light for the establishment of the State Commission of Inquiry into the Submarine Affair, and the vote on this will be submitted to the government for approval at its next meeting on Sunday. The decision was made after discussions between Prime Minister and Defense Minister Bnei Gantz, Justice Minister Gideon Saar and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. Gantz, who more than any other government minister promoted the establishment of the committee, welcomed the agreements: "This is a national need, and I thank the prime minister, the foreign minister, the justice minister and all those who support raising the resolution."
Minister Lapid also greeted: "We promised the Israeli public that we will not give up on the investigation of the affair - and we did. The submarine and vessel affair is the most serious security corruption case in the history of Israel ".
The submarine affair, was uncovered in 2016 and deals with a series of procurement deals for the Navy, carried out in the previous decade with the extraordinary involvement of the then Prime Minister's Office, Benjamin Netanyahu. These deals include the purchase of a sixth Navy submarine from the German company ThyssenKrupp, an intention to order three more submarines from the Germans, and the purchase of four missile ships to protect Israel's economic water and gas rigs. In addition, it examined the approval that the Germans had received from Israeli sources to sell similar submarines to the Egyptian army. Netanyahu himself was not a suspect in the affair, and last year indictments were filed against seven senior officials for skewing tenders related to the purchase of the submarines.
Despite these indictments, a number of demonstrations have taken place in recent years and a number of petitions have been submitted to the High Court demanding a re-investigation of the affair, also known as the "3000 case", and for Defense Minister Ganz this was a key promise. And its members resigned in protest of an attempt to curtail their powers, and with the formation of the new government in June he worked to form a state committee, which has more investigative powers. The raising of the proposal will be discussed after the transfer of the state budget.
"If we do not find out the truth, we will not be able to draw lessons for the future. It is not a personal matter - but a national need," Ganz said at the time. "This is an issue that is at the heart of the defense system, and constitutes a paramount security need in order to maintain the citizens' trust in it and in the decision-makers." At that time, Justice Minister Saar clarified in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth that "when the issue was raised by the Defense Minister, I had reservations about the work procedures and the committee's powers. I asked the government to recommend it. "
The Movement for the Quality of Government welcomed the advancement of the decision and said: "After three years of advancing the public struggle on the issue through the High Court, protest and a round of meetings with the ministers, the moment we have been waiting for is coming true. We welcome the agreements to advance the Commission of Inquiry, which will investigate the serious security corruption case in the country's history. An affair that has deeply damaged national security and the sanctity of the country. "
The attorney general of Brigadier General Avriel Bar-Yosef, the former deputy head of the National Security Council who is accused of bribery in the case, also welcomed the establishment of the committee - but for other reasons. His lawyer, Jacques Chen, said that And cynics ", assured to those who initiated it" that as they came to curse they went out to greet those whom they seek to eliminate: in such a commission of inquiry the involvement of senior officials in all systems who are not accused and not the heads of the committee's pharmacists - senior military officials "In the National Security Council, the most senior officials who still serve in the government today, their aides and other accountants."
Advocate Chen added: "All those who could lie under the guise of fog, who submitted affidavits that contradict their testimony to the police, and those who have so far dragged their feet for understandable reasons with butter smeared on their heads, will actually be required to give explanations for their actions. Tear the mask off the cynical face of many eyeballs. The truth when you go out will shake the forearms. "