JERUSALEM, May 30: Twenty people, including top business executives, have been arrested in an unprecedented industrial espionage scandal in Israel set to have damaging consequences for the economy, police and experts said. So far 15 companies — including some of the most prestigious in Israel — have been implicated in the investigation since it began in November, but police say the number could rise to 60.

Helped by fraud squads in Britain, Germany and the United States, operation ‘Horse Race’ has provoked uproar as analysts warn of damaging repercussions. Eighteen people have been arrested in Israel and two in Britain, who are facing extradition to the Jewish state.—AFP