Elections in Sight, Gantz Unleashes Netanyahu’s Worst Nightmare

Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz made a splash on Sunday by announcing he had formed an investigative panel to inspect the murky waters of what has come to be known in Israel as the Submarine Affair. Gantz said he appointed three panel members, including a former judge and a navy commander, to investigate the Defense Ministry’s procurement of several submarines and other vessels from the German HDW shipyard. The scandal has already led to a slew of indictments of former navy chiefs and defense officials in a separate police investigation, but the latest panel will be authorized to summon high profile political figures as well, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who, while never a suspect, was accused by several high-ranking security officials of involvement on the affair. His associates decried the investigative committee as a “political hit job” unleashed by Gantz for his own benefit, and accused the defense minister of dragging the nation to a general election.