Israeli police have arrested seven people on suspicion of corruption following a deal to buy submarines from German company ThyssenKrupp. German authorities have launched their own investigation.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
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Israeli police arrested seven public officials and private business people in an investigation involving the purchase of German watercraft. They are suspected of offenses including bribery, tax fraud and money laundering in deals worth over 1.5 billion euros to buy Dolphin submarines and patrol corvettes from Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
In 2016, broadcaster Channel 10 reported that the Israeli intermediary for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems had retained David Shimron - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's second cousin and personal lawyer - to act on his behalf. Media also reported that the prime minister helped push the deal through despite protests from military and Defense Ministry officials, who called the boats too expensive.
Police named three remanded suspects as Avriel Bar Yosef, the former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council; Micky Ganor, the local representative for ThyssenKrupp; and Ronen Shemer, a lawyer employed by Ganor.
Netanyahu denies everything
Shimron says he did nothing wrong and never discussed the deal with the prime minister so as to avoid any conflict of interest. Netanyahu has given his full backing to his kinsman and said the purchase was completed on the advice of defense experts.
In February, Israel's Justice Ministry announced that it had launched an investigation into the affair, stressing, however, that officials had no reason yet to suspect Netanyahu of personal involvement. By June, Der Spiegel reported that Germany's own national security council had approved the sale of the three nuclear-weapons-capable submarines, but that authorities had inserted a clause into the contract giving them the right to void the deal should Israeli officials prove the corruption allegations.
Officials have launched a separate investigation into Netanyahu for expensive gifts he received from the Israeli businessman and Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. They have also begun to probe the Israeli premier on suspicions that he sought to make a secret one-hand-washes-the-other deal with the publisher of Israel's top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot in exchange for favorable press coverage.
Netanyahu rejects charges of misconduct and blames his political opponents for the negative attention.
Jerusalem in 1967 and 2017
The city of Jerusalem has been one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. DW compares the city in 1967, during the Six-Day War, with how it looks 50 years on.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Mount of Olives today
The old City Wall and the gold-domed Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock, are visible in the background from the mountain ridge which lies to the east of the Old City. The Old Jewish Cemetery, situated on the western and southern slopes of the ridge, are in an area once named for its many olive groves. It is the oldest continually used Jewish cemetery in the world.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Mount of Olives then
If it weren't for the ancient Ottoman city wall and the shrine in the background, viewers might not realize this is the same site. The picture was taken on June 7th, 1967, when the peak was this brigade's command post at the height of the Six-Day War, or Arab-Israeli War.
Image: Government Press Office/REUTERS
Al-Aqsa mosque today
Al-Aqsa, with its silver-colored dome and vast hall, is located on Temple Mount. Muslims call the mosque the "Noble Sanctuary," but it is also the most sacred site in Judaism, a place where two biblical temples were believed to have stood. As well, it is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam, after Mecca and Medina. There have long been tensions over control of the entire Temple Mount area.
Image: Reuters/A. Awad
Al-Aqsa mosque then
The name Al-Aqsa translates to "the farthest mosque." It is also Jerusalem's biggest mosque. Israel has strict control over the area after conquering all of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, and regaining access to its religious sites. Leaders at the time agreed that the Temple Mount would be administered by an Islamic religious trust known as the Waqf.
Image: Reuters/
Damascus Gate today
The historic Gate, named in English for the fact that the road from there heads north to Damascus, is a busy main entrance to Palestinian East Jerusalem, and to a bustling Arab bazaar. Over the past two years, it has frequently been the site of security incidents and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Damascus Gate then
The gate itself - what we see today was built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1537 - looks much the same in this July 1967 picture. Seven Gates allow entrance to the Old City and its separate quarters.
Image: Reuters/
Old City today
Jerusalem's vibrant Old City, a UNESCO world Heritage Site since 1981, is home to sites important to many different religions: the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque for Muslims, Temple Mount and the Western Wall for Jews, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians. Busy and colorful, it is a great place for shopping and food, and a top attraction for visitors.
Image: Reuters/A. Awad
Old City then
This picture was taken in July 1967, but 50 years later, some things in the Old City haven't changed at all. Boys like the one in the photo balancing a tray of sesame pastries - called bagels - still roam the streets of the Old City today, hawking the sweet breads sprinkled with sesame seeds for about a euro ($1.12) apiece.
Image: Reuters/Fritz Cohen/Courtesy of Government Press Office
Western Wall today
This section of ancient limestone wall in Jerusalem's Old City is the western support wall of the Temple Mount. It is the most religious site for Jewish people, who come here to pray and perhaps to place a note in a crack in the wall. There is a separate section for men and for women, but it is free and open to everyone all year round - after the obligatory security check.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
Western Wall then
The Western Wall is also known as the 'Wailing' Wall, a term considered derogatory and not used by Jews. The above photo of people flocking to the Wall to pray was taken on September 1, 1967, just weeks after Israel regained control of the site following the Six-Day-War. It had been expelled from the Old City 19 years earlier during Jordan's occupation.
