Amidst Questions, ThyssenKrupp Inaugurates First Guard Ship for Israel’s Navy

Submarine maker ThyssenKrupp AG has officially named the first of four Sa'ar 6 corvette ships it will be supplying the Israeli navy the INS Magen. The name was announced Thursday at a ceremony held in Germany, attended by officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Navy. The first ship will arrive in Israel in 2020.

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Israel has agreed to purchase three Dolphin-class submarines for 1.3 billion euros and four Sa'ar 6-class corvette ships for 430 million euros from the German conglomerate. Since then, ThyssenKrupp has become somewhat infamous in Israel due to Case 3,000, an Israeli police probe into the purchase. Launched in February 2017, the probe investigated whether businessmen, lawyers, and Israeli officials—some with connections to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—were motivated by bribes and private interests while promoting deals with the corporation between 2009 and 2017.

ThyssenKrupp’s Israeli representative at the time, Miki Ganor, became a state witness in 2017, admitting he used bribes to advance the corporation’s interests in Israel. In March 2019, Ganor rescinded his previous statements, claiming he was pressured into signing the state witness deal. In November, Israeli police announced its recommendation to indict 12 suspects in the case, six of them with bribery, fraud, and money laundering charges.

“We are very proud to contribute to Israel’s security. The Sa’ar 6 ships are the most advanced and largest in the Israeli Navy. The Israeli industry will put together the final systems, and these ships will greatly aid the country’s economy,” Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems CEO Rolf Wirtz said at the ceremony.