BERLIN

German prosecutors launched an investigation into bribery allegations stemming from the sale of nuclear-capable submarines to Israel in a €1.5 billion deal, officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Bochum prosecutor's office told the DPA news agency it opened a probe against "persons unknown" following recent reports in Israeli media on an ongoing corruption case.

The German government approved in 2017 Israel’s purchase of three high-tech submarines from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer David Shimron, who also worked as an advisor for the Israeli representative of ThyssenKrupp, was accused of fraud and bribery in November by the Israeli authorities.

Netanyahu was a strong supporter of the submarine deal.