Arnon Milchan's cross-examination will begin on Tuesday when the witness answers questions from Prime Minister Netanyahu's lawyers from Brighton, England.
The testimony of the main witness in Case 1000, Arnon Milchan, dealt with regulatory actions that according to the indictment, Netanyahu carried out for Milchan, his close friend, while receiving favors from him.
Milchan on his second day of testimony
According to the indictment, these are actions with a serious conflict of interest. Milchan said that Netanyahu sent the Director General of the Ministry of Communications, Shlomo Filber, now a state witness, to advise him on a deal in the communications market. He also said that Netanyahu told him that he would ask Yair Lapid to act on his behalf as finance minister and that he would assist him with the revocation of Milchan's American visa. He also said that most of the "mass of cigars" he had was destined for Netanyahu.
"I didn't get any gifts from Netanyahu"
"I told Netanyahu about my problem that Channel 10 [which he owned at the time] could not exist, and he called Filber and asked him to check and help," Milchan said. "I spoke with Filber at Beit Yanai about regulation and how to promote the merger. Filber was responsible for that." Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari asked if he had informed Netanyahu about the talks with Filber, to which he replied: "I'm sure I updated him. Netanyahu was the communications minister. The answer is yes." Milchan confirmed in his testimony that Netanyahu asked his office chief Ari Herro, now the state's witness, to examine the issue of Milchan's American visa in response to Milchan's request.
Netanyahu arrives for Milchan's testimony, photo: Reuters
Milchan said he never received gifts from Netanyahu and the relationship was not mutual, except for a gift Sarah gave to his wife Amanda. "I don't remember," Milchan replied to a question from prosecutor Ben Ari: "Did you receive gifts from the Netanyahus?" Ben Ari read from Milchan's interrogation at the police, where he responded to the question: "Do you know him who brings gifts? Do you want me to fall to the floor laughing?" Judge Rebecca Friedman Feldman asked the witness: "What you said is true, that he never brought you gifts?" to which Milchan replied: "Yes, that's true." The prosecutor continued to read from the police interrogation, where Milchan said: "It could be that Sarah once gave a necklace or something, or a pin, I don't know, a keychain." In court, Milchan said: "I know that Mrs. Netanyahu gave gifts to Amanda, I just don't know what and how."
The defense will try to crack
Today, Milchan's main testimony will come to an end, and then the cross-examination by Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, will begin. After Milchan has already confirmed his and Netanyahu's close friendship, Haddad's task is to fend off a number of benefits specified in the indictment and neutralize the regulatory actions that Netanyahu allegedly carried out in a conflict of interest for Arnon Milchan
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