State witness Ganor in sub. affair pleads with suspect: 'Tell them everything'
Recap of latest developments: After refusing to talk to interrogators in sub. corruption affair, media advisor Tzachi Lieber meets with state witness and former friend Miki Ganor in police confrontation, who pleads with Lieber to cooperate; Lieber previously admitted to delivering money from Ganor to PM's former chief of staff; more arrests expected next week.
"Tzachi, I told them everything. You tell them, as well," said Miki Ganor, a representative of shipbuilding company Thyssenkrupp and recently turned state witness, to Tzachi Lieber, a media advisor who was recently arrested in connection to corruption allegations involving the IDF's purchase of three submarines from Thyssenkrupp. Ganor spoke to Lieber as part of their first confrontation on Friday, after Lieber stopped cooperating with his investigators.
The submarine affair, also known as "Case 3,000," involves allegations of bribery, money laundering and fraud, in an effort to secure a tender to supply the Israeli Navy with the submarines.
Lieber already admitted on Wednesday to transferring money from Ganor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former chief of staff, David Sharan, who has been named as a suspect in the affair. However, Lieber later stopped speaking to his investigators on matters relating to the affair.
Ganor's plea that Lieber continue cooperating did not sway Lieber, who would not interact with Ganor during the confrontation. Prior to the investigation into the submarine affair, the two were considered to be good friends.
Several high-profile individuals have already been questioned in connection to the ongoing investigation, among them Netanyahu's personal lawyer and cousin David Shimron, who also represented Thyssenkrupp's interests in Israel. Lieber and another advisor named Nati Mor remain in custody after being arrested on suspicion of delivering bribe money from Ganor and to Sharan.
Specifically, Lieber is suspected of signing fictitious agreements with Ganor from which Lieber received funds, which were later delivered by hand to Sharan. Ganor has already referred investigators to a wire transfer he carried out that delivered money into Lieber's bank account.
Speaking on his behalf in court, Lieber's attorneys admitted on Wednesday that Lieber had indeed physically transferred money from Ganor to Sharan. "He (Sharan—ed) turned to him (Lieber) and said, 'Go to Ganor and bring (Sharan) the money,'" his lawyers stated. Despite this, they claimed that Lieber's alleged "being a central culprit is quite a different story," and that their client did not know about the direct, possibly illicit communications between Ganor and Sharan.
Former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon was also called in for questioning in the submarine affair, during which he implicated Netanyahu directly. "I personally blocked the submarine deal when I was defense minister, and the deal was renewed only after I left the ministry , Ya'alon later told the press.
The police are expected to carry out another round of arrests from the political sphere in the upcoming week, in addition to calling on National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Minister Yuval Steinitz to come in for questioning. Rami Tayeb, a political advisor to Steinitz, has already been questioned in connection with the submarine corruption affair on Monday. Tayeb is suspected of bribery, conspiring to commit a crime and money laundering.
