Yesh Atid protests Submarines Affair with zeppelin

The Yesh Atid-Telem faction found a creative way to raise awareness about its call for a commission of inquiry into the Submarines Affair on Wednesday, sending a zeppelin that looks like a submarine to hover over the Knesset.

The Justice Ministry announced criminal charges in December against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer, a former top aide and an ex-Israel Navy chief over a $2 billion purchase of submarines from Germany.

Netanyahu was questioned by police but is not a suspect in the long-running investigation into suspicions that the local agent for the vessels’ builder, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, part of the ThyssenKrupp Group, paid bribes to Israeli officials.

The Knesset plenum voted 54-25 to reject a request by Yesh Atid-Telem for a commission of inquiry to investigate Netanyahu’s role in the affair, known as Case 3000. The request is intended to embarrass Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, who repeatedly spoke in favor of a commission of inquiry during the past three election campaigns.

Quotes by Gantz and other Blue and White leaders calling for the commission were printed on the zeppelin. Yesh AtidTelem activists also protested outside the Knesset.

After the vote failed, Yesh AtidTelem leader Yair Lapid mocked Gantz for being absent from the vote, saying, “His lack of presence epitomizes him.”

“The Submarines Affair will continue to hover over us until the truth will be revealed,” Lapid said. “This is the most serious security-related corruption scandal since the state was founded. [Gantz] now has an opportunity to prove that he cares more about national security than his own cabinet seat.”

Reuters contributed to this report.