Billionaire Arnon Milchan was a close friend, and claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed government reforms on his behalf are ludicrous, he charged in his criminal trial testimony hearing on Monday.
Up until now, the defense has tried to show how an abuse of process took place when it came to this case, meaning that legal processes were used in an unjustified or unreasonable way. It did this by presenting what appeared to be a pattern of acts by police and by the legal arm to procure testimonies against Netanyahu. The defense showed that it did this by mounting public and private pressure on these people.
The prime minister said, “This was a witch hunt, a personal hunt. They were targeting me and my family.”
Tensions ran high in the room as the prosecution objected to the questioning by lead defense attorney Amit Hadad of Netanyahu, saying that it was too emotional. The judges urged him to proceed.
“‘How did you feel?’ is a legitimate question,” lead judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman said.
Hadad presented an interview that Channel 13 investigative journalist Raviv Drucker gave to Army Radio. In it, he said that he had information that could lend support to Shlomo Filber, a former Netanyahu aide who later became a state's witness.
In the recording, he said that Filber “needs to be supported, so that he can tell the truth.”
Netanyahu said, “To understand what I feel, I ask you to imagine the opposite scenario: If Channel 14 [known as a pro-Netanyahu channel] was to publicize an investigative piece in support of me, the results would not be the same.”
He continued, “This is unacceptable in a democracy, and I haven't seen this in Israel ever. This was how I felt, that I was being hunted, that every judicial norm was being violated.”
What Netanyahu described as political witch hunts “turned away life-long friends of mine. People were so freaked out by their experiences at the hands of the authorities,” he said.
Hadad then proceeded to the heart of Case 1000, the “Illegal Gifts Affair.” In it, Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly receiving goods from billionaires Milchan and James Packer. The prosecution claimed that the goods – boxes of cigars and champagne – placed Netanyahu in a conflict of interest, which manifested in regulations he allegedly pushed that aided Milchan.
Asked about Milchan, Netanyahu said, “He’s my friend! I know his family, and he knows mine. We were close friends, the type who can speak for hours. Our wives were friends… We discussed our children’s weddings, their doctor's appointments… This was the nature of the relationship; there is no other way to put it.”
He added, “We didn’t ask for anything… Arnon is a giver, that’s the kind of person he is.”
Netanyahu also denied the notion of a “supply line” for cigars and champagne.
Their relationship began to take shape in 1999, after the two met in 1996. These years encompass the entirety of Netanyahu’s first premiership.
“After I lost the elections [in 1999], I sat at a restaurant in Tel Aviv,” said Netanyahu. “Arnon [Milchan] was there with his mother, we struck up a conversation, and immediately there formed an incredible connection that deepened the friendship.”
Throughout the early-to-mid 2000s during Netanyahu’s ins-and-outs of politics, and when the Likud fell to 12 mandates, he said his relationship with Milchan didn’t affect it from a policy perspective in the slightest. “I thought I was done-for politically, I thought the Likud would fall. Arnon was one of my closest friends then, and during an incredibly tough time,” he said, his hands interlaced to indicate their personal closeness, “like family.”
Milchan even told police during his investigation – the transcripts of which were presented by Hadad – in which Milchan reflected the same type of relationship that Netanyahu himself described.
“A friend offers a friend a cigar – This is bribery? The absurdity only outdoes itself!” he said.
“Milchan was one of Hollywood’s greatest producers – he definitely didn’t need any help from me,” he added. The prime minister is accused of having advocated for tax exemption extensions for returning citizens – which Milchan was, and would have benefited from. He also allegedly directed Filber, who was the director-general of the Communications Ministry in 2015, to help Milchan with regulatory concerns. This was related to a merger deal between media companies Reshet and Keshet, which Milchan was considering investing in.
The interrogations into Milchan by police in December 2016 are what terminated their relationship, Netanyahu said.
“Milchan was only looking to aid the State of Israel, but he and everyone else who was interrogated by the attorneys-general is assumed guilty by association,” he charged.
Netanyahu insisted that he didn't direct Filber to do anything for Milchan.
Ronen Bar files an affidavit against Netanyahu
The hearing took place the same day that Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar submitted an affidavit against the government’s attempt to fire him.
As the prime minister entered the courtroom, he was asked for his input on Bar’s affidavit, as well as regarding comments made this morning by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that returning the hostages is not the prime goal of Israel's leadership at the moment, but rather to destroy Hamas.
Protesters gathered outside the courthouse to protest against Netanyahu, chanting “Qatar is Hamas, an enemy state,” in reference to investigations headed by police and the Shin Bet into Qatari influences over figures in the prime minister’s circles.
