Likud Hires Law Firm of Netanyahu's Confidants Embroiled in Corruption Probe

It’s not yet clear if two key figures at the firm, David Shimron and Isaac Molho, will face charges in the affair in which bribery is suspected

Chaim Levinson

Jan 7, 2019

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, Dec. 9, 2018. Credit: AP Photo/Oded Balilty, Pool

Chaim Levinson

Jan 7, 2019

Likud has hired for its election campaign the law firm of Benjamin Netanyahu confidants David Shimron and Isaac Molho, two men who were questioned in the so-called submarines affair and could still be charged.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether either will face charges.

In the submarines affair, the police recommended the indictment of six people, including Shimron, for bribery and other offenses related to two deals to buy naval vessels from the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp. Shimron was once Netanyahu’s personal lawyer.

>> Israel's submarine affair: A tale that goes from Netanyahu to gas fields in Iran

Molho was questioned but the police did not recommend charges. Shimron did not stop working at the firm during his questioning, but Molho stopped serving as the prime minister’s political envoy, and Shimron cut ties with Netanyahu.

Likud said it would not comment on people involved in the campaign, for which the law firm will be an adviser.

The firm E.S. Shimron, I. Molho, Persky & Co. has worked with Netanyahu and Likud for years. In the 2015 election, it handled the responses to the state comptroller regarding V15, an American-funded organization that sought to replace Netanyahu as prime minister.

Michael Rabello, a partner at the firm, will be working with Likud along with Avi Halevi. Rabello has already helped Likud craft a response to attorney Shachar Ben-Meir’s appeal to the Central Elections Committee demanding that the party be barred from using videos showing Netanyahu with Israeli soldiers.

Rabello has previously represented Sara Netanyahu in several cases, including a libel suit against journalist Ben Caspit and against the abuse lawsuits filed against her by employees of the prime minister’s residence, Meni Naftali and Guy Eliyahu.

Netanyahu once offered Rabello the job of cabinet secretary, but he turned it down. Rabello did not respond to Haaretz’s request for comment.