A moment after the judges' statement in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who argued that it would be difficult to prove the bribery charge in Case 4000, today (Sunday) the testimony of businessman Arnon Milchan in Case 1000, the gifts affair, begins.
In talks between Attorney General Gali Bahar-Miara and the prosecution team in Case 4000 and the State Prosecutor, it was agreed that no plea bargain would be signed with Netanyahu without disgrace that would lead to the end of his career in public service. It was also agreed that the possibility of signing a plea bargain was open only until Netanyahu and Elovitch testified in court, after which, in their opinion, this would be pointless.
Case 1000 attacked Netanyahu with forceps. Like a military force charging at the front and at the same time from behind. Netanyahu is also accused of receiving large-scale favors but also of government actions he carried out on Milchan's behalf. The defense's argument, "It is permissible to receive gifts from friends," raises the criminal question of governmental actions for a friend
Regarding the judges' declaration of the difficulty in proving the bribery offense in Case 4000, the attorney general, who is not very familiar with the case, attributes trust and importance to the opinions of Chief Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh and Deputy State Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari.
Netanyahu's trial: Hadas Klein is cross-examined // Yoni Rikner
The Attorney General has already refused mediation in a case, which means negotiations between the prosecution and the defense, conducted by a judge who does not hear the case, which will help the parties reach an agreement. The defense attorneys' refusal of such an offer is what led the judges to press the prosecution and inform them that there would be no bribery conviction. The prosecution prefers a plea bargain in order not to depend on an intermediary judge. Netanyahu's lawyers, on the other hand, prefer mediation for exactly the same reason that the prosecution is not interested in – an arguing judge who can remove the prosecution from the tree of the bribery offense.
In a plea bargain, the negotiation takes place when the prosecution conducts it vis-à-vis the defense attorneys. After the attorney general rejected the offer of mediation, she had already sent a message to Netanyahu's lawyers that if they proposed, such negotiations could be initiated. The mine is the element of infamy. "According to the selective leak that was published, the court approached the prosecution's representative with a statement that the panel believes that the prosecution will find it difficult to prove the bribery charge," Netanyahu's lawyers, Boaz Ben-Tzur and Jacques Chen, responded to the judges' statement about the lack of chance of proving the bribery offense. "This is a correct detail that was said at the beginning of the meeting, while noting that it was said with the necessary caution. At the same time, the leakers omitted the important context of this statement: the judges' appeal to the prosecution to act according to its authority and consider withdrawing the bribery charge."
Refuses mediation. Baharav Miara, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The political establishment also responded, for example, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana wrote that "the files are unfounded, Netanyahu is neither a criminal nor corrupt." MK Gideon Sa'ar said that he believes that the public interest is a plea bargain for the prime minister. He called on the prosecution to show willingness to negotiate with the defense team.
"I'm just suffering from this whole story, I've had enough, I want it to end," Milchan told his associates more than once about his involvement in the case, from the opening of the investigations into Case 1000, through the testimony of his personal assistant Hadas Klein and, of course, in light of his upcoming testimony. Milchan will celebrate his 80th birthday next year, and it is doubtful whether this time the Netanyahu couple will receive an invitation along with the treats, after he believes they embroiled him in the affair. Given his age, he claimed that due to medical problems he refused to testify in Israel. It's safe to assume that the same problems won't interfere with touring the world on his private jets "scattered across almost every continent," Klein says.
It is doubtful whether this time the Netanyahu couple will receive an invitation with the treats alongside it. Arnon Milchan, Photo: AP
Testimony in combat spirit
Statements he recently made at a witness refresher conducted for him by Liat Ben Ari in London indicate that Milchan arrives in a combat spirit. In this spirit, Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, will also board the plane on Saturday night. The course 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. The defense attorneys, prosecutors, Sarah Netanyahu and those close to Milchan and himself will all be in a closed courtroom for press coverage in Brighton.
The judges themselves are concerned about the possibility of proper conduct of the hearing, how will they stop a verbal brawl between the defense attorneys and the prosecution from a distance from another continent in visual designation? It is not for nothing that the head of the panel, Judge Rivka Friedman Feldman, warned the prosecution, which requested that this be how the hearing would be conducted, that if it did not work, she would interrupt Milchan's testimony and everyone would return to Israel. Apart from Milchan of course. For Netanyahu, this is an optimal situation because it means the possible loss of the key witness in Case 1000.
So far, about 40 witnesses out of 315 have testified in Netanyahu's trial, but after Milchan's testimony, it will already be possible to assess the state of the case since most of the important witnesses and state witnesses have already testified. The most important witness is, of course, the defendant Netanyahu himself, and his testimony will open the "defense affair" and the series of witnesses that the defense attorneys will bring to testify that may further affect the case.
Testimony in a combat spirit. Adv. Amit Hadad (Archive), Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"Prime Minister at the touch of a button"
Case 1000 attacked Netanyahu with forceps. Like a military force charging at the front and at the same time from behind. Netanyahu is also accused of receiving large-scale favors but also of government actions he carried out on Milchan's behalf. The defense's argument, "It is permissible to receive gifts from friends," raises the criminal question of governmental actions for a friend, in an apparent conflict of interest. Defense attorney Haddad must repel both the gifts and the governmental actions.
In Hadas Klein's cross-examination by the defense, the latter succeeded in hitting the champagne rate alleged in the indictment Netanyahu received from Milchan, while the cigar rate remained strong. The defense's mission is to point out that many cigars were purchased for other destinations and not just for Netanyahu, so it is difficult to separate the two and estimate the value of the gifts.
In the testimony of State witness Ari Haro and in the testimony of Hadas Klein, the alleged meaning of the gifts was observed. Herro said that when he worked alongside Netanyahu and while he was in a closed meeting, he decided not to send him a phone call from Milchan to Netanyahu. After the meeting, he informed Netanyahu about this, who reprimanded him: "When Milchan calls, you transfer the call." When Hadas Klein in her testimony was asked about the significance of the gifts in Milchan's and Netanyahu's relationship, she replied, "As far as Milchan is concerned, he has a prime minister at the push of a button," and Milchan pushed that button and, as alleged in the indictment, activated Netanyahu as prime minister for him despite the conflict of interest.
The proportion of cigars in the testimony remained strong. Hadas Klein in court (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Defense attorney Haddad will strive to repel this by presenting quotes from Milchan's interrogation and even Klein's own investigation that Netanyahu does not usually help Adam, nor Milchan. In her testimony in court, Klein added, "Just don't forget how he helped Milchan get an American visa, Arnon called him obsessively."
Milchan's stomach may be full towards the Netanyahu couple, but it seems that he himself is not an innocent lamb. Hadas Klein said in her testimony that Milchan suspected in real time that the gifts he was sending Netanyahu on the water were illegal. "On one occasion I told Arnon that Sarah said you could get gifts from friends," Klein said. "He said put a note in the safe that this is what Sarah said on this date and this and that. Miltzen said, call Molcho to find out if he was the one who advised them. This was when the quantities of champagne started piling up. Arnon said this because his accountant approached him (wondering) why I order quantities when he wasn't even in Israel. I told Arnon that I wouldn't call Molcho because I would embarrass Bibi."
Questions will also be asked whether Milchan managed to evade criminal charges in light of the "strengthening" of the elected officials he was driving. State witness Ari Herro said that when he was at the prime minister's house in Balfour, he met Arnon Milchan. The latter told him, "I left cigars in the library." At the same time, he asked if there was progress with visa advancement. The proximity and binding between the cigar issue and the visa aid request signal Milchan's expectation of a reward relationship that could amount to bribes.
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