Moshe Ya’alon, who is in the top four of the Blue and White party list, has according to many crossed a line that should not have been crossed in his comments to the press about the corruption case in the alleged involvement of Prime Minister Netanyahu, stating that the purchase of the submarine could amount to “treason”.

Opponents of the Prime Minister are becoming increasingly audible in their criticism against him surrounding expected criminal indictments for alleged corruption in a number of cases. One of those cases, known as the submarine affair, pertains to the Israel Navy purchase of submarines from a German company. The police referred to this case as ‘Case 3000’. It is alleged that the Prime Minister as an earned millions in the deal, which Mr. Netanyahu has categorically denied, insisting there is no truth to any of these allegations.

Ya’alon was the nation’s defense minister during the period when the deals were signed on some of the submarine purchases. He was adamant in his opposition to the purchase but is decision was vetoed by the Prime Minister. In fact, as he ended his tenure as defense minister, 2013 at 2016, he sent a letter to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit calling for an investigation into the submarine purchase deal. This and other disagreements led to his resignation from his senior cabinet post from the Knesset. He is now reappearing on the scene under the Blue and White banner, hoping to find a place back in Knesset.

Ya’alon holds the third slot on the party list and among the four top positions on that list, he is one of three retired IDF Chief of Staff, and among those three the only was served in a position of defense minister. The other chiefs of staff include Gabi Ashkenazi and the party leader Benny Gantz. The second slot on the list is held by the hand of the Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid. Yesh Atid teams with Gantz to become the choose one and the sentence party.

It is pointed out that following the police investigation, as well as the Attorney General’s office, the feeling is that Mr. Netanyahu is not in any way connected to the submarine affair, but this does not prevent Gantz, and others from using this as election campaign material, working hard to besmirch Netanyahu’s name ahead of Election Day, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)