Today, Sunday, the Israeli government decided to form an official investigation committee into the circumstances of the submarine deal concluded with Germany, and the leader of the largest ultra-Orthodox party submitted his resignation from the Knesset after reaching an agreement with the Public Prosecution Office on a tax fraud case.

It is suspected that senior officers and associates of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took bribes to pass the submarine deal in 2012.

Twenty-six ministers voted in favor of the proposal, while Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked voted against it, while Prime Minister Naftali Bennett abstained from voting, according to the official Kan channel.

Justifying his refusal to vote, Bennett said he feared the issue could be used to fuel political squabbles, disagreements and hatred.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid were among the initiators of forming this committee, against the background of suspicions of corruption and national security violations, in which Netanyahu may be involved, as he is accused of concluding them through mediators and those close to him, without consulting the relevant security and military authorities.

In a tweet via his Twitter account, the foreign minister described the submarine case as "the most serious security corruption case in Israel's history."

In December 2019, the Public Prosecution indicted those close to Netanyahu in the same case, but the latter's name was not included on the list of suspects.

Last Thursday, Tel Aviv and Berlin reached a final agreement on a billion deal to buy 3 new Dakar-class submarines.

The blocks are to be built in the Thyssen-Group Marine Systems basin in Kiel, northern Germany, with the first piece to be delivered within 9 years.

Aryeh Deri, head of the Shas party, has confessed to tax violations (French)

admission of guilt

In a related context, Aryeh Deri, head of the religious opposition "Shas" party, submitted his resignation today from the Knesset (Parliament) as part of an "acknowledgment of guilt" deal, during which he admitted committing tax violations, in exchange for not being imprisoned.

The official Kan channel said Deri had submitted his resignation to Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy as part of an "admission of guilt" agreement in his case.

The channel reported that Deri pleaded guilty to tax offenses and violating the real estate tax law.

The resignation will become effective within 48 hours, and the Magistrate's Court in occupied Jerusalem is scheduled to hold a session next Tuesday in the "admission of guilt" deal that the former minister reached with the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit.

Deri previously served as Minister of Interior between January 11, 2016 and June 13, 2021.

In the same context, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper (privately) reported that under the plea deal, Deri will resign from the Knesset and pay a fine of 180,000 shekels (about $57,000) with his admission of minor misdemeanours, and in return he will not be imprisoned.

The newspaper pointed out that Deri will remain head of the Shas party (9 members of the Knesset out of 120) and will be replaced by Yossi Tayeb from the same party.

The attorney general did not pledge to ensure that Deri would assume the position of minister in the future if the latter wanted to do so, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.