Amos Gilead, a decorated retired IDF general and defense official, testified on Tuesday before the police’s Lahav 443 investigative unit amid the ongoing probe into a controversial submarine deal with Germany that has ensnared some of Israel’s most powerful officials.
According to Lahav 443, Gilead, a former director of policy and political military affairs at the Defense Ministry, is presently not suspected of illegal activity, and provided testimony voluntarily.
The content of Gilead’s testimony remains unclear.
Nonetheless, the police agency hinted that Gilead’s investigative status could change, noting in a statement that: “We have not found any evidence of corruption, but our investigation is only preliminary.”
Meanwhile, the signing of a memorandum on the sale of three submarines between Germany and Israel has been postponed.
A senior diplomatic official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the Memorandum of Understanding on the sale of the three submarines, which was supposed to be signed by Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, has been postponed.
While the announcement is not an outright cancellation of the deal, it is a dramatic development in an affair that has rattled Israel.
In June, Der Spiegel reported that the German National Security Council approved the €1.5 billion purchase by Israel – 27% subsidized by Berlin – of the three submarines.
However, the contract reportedly includes a clause giving Berlin the right to cancel it if any improprieties or criminal offenses are proven as a result of the current police investigation, codenamed Case 3000. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the Jerusalem Post website.
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