At the end of the week, preparations will be completed for Arnon Milchan's testimony in Case 1000 (the gifts affair), and if there are no delays, his testimony will begin in Brighton in southern England, in what is considered one of the key points in the prime minister's trial. This was after the Jerusalem District Court exempted him from appearing in Israel, partly due to his medical condition.
Yoni Rikner
The businessman's testimony will begin this Sunday and the process of testimony will be complex. Although the three judges are in Israel, the hearing itself will take place in the British resort town of Brighton, about 76 kilometers from London.
The defense attorneys, prosecutors, Sarah Netanyahu, Milchan's associates and himself will all be in a closed courtroom for press coverage in Britain. The judges are concerned about the possibility of proper conduct of the hearing, how they will stop a verbal brawl between the defense attorneys and the prosecution from a distance from another continent in visual vocation.
Arnon Milchan and Benjamin Netanyahu (archive), photo: GettyImages
It is not for nothing that the head of the panel, Judge Rivka Friedman Feldman, warned the State Prosecutor's Office that this is how the hearing would be conducted and if it did not work, it would interrupt Milchan's testimony and everyone would return to Israel, except Milchan himself. For Netanyahu, this is an optimal situation because it means the possible loss of the key witness in Case 1000.
"Want it to end"
Milchan recently told associates that he was waiting for the testimony to end. "I'm just suffering from this whole story," he was quoted as saying, "I've had enough. I want it to end."
Milchan will celebrate his 80th birthday next year, and one of the reasons for his request to testify by video from England and not come to Israel was concern, he claimed, about his medical condition.
Milchan, a businessman with a rich past and in the past one of Netanyahu's close associates and his wife, is considered a key witness in Case 1000. So far, about 40 witnesses out of 315 have testified in Netanyahu's trial, but after the businessman's testimony, it will be possible to assess the status of the case, since most of the important witnesses and state witnesses have already testified.
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