Tadmor continued with questioning on Case 1000, zeroing in on the friendship Netanyahu had with billionaire Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. Netanyahu is on trial for advancing legislation favorable to Milchan, while receiving gifts from him in the form of cigars and champagne, worth thousands of shekels. He was charged with fraud and breach-of-trust.
“I spoke with him about personal things because we were close friends,” he said.
Tadmor questioned the frequency of notes Netanyahu got from Milchan, as well as from Milchan to Netanyahu’s staff. Tadmor presented quotes from former Netanyahu staffer-turned state’s witness Ari Harrow.
Harrow had said that Milchan would call periodically.
Tadmor said that Netanyahu’s staff was in close contact with Milchan, including with former PMO director-general Gil Shefer. Referencing the testimony of Hadas Klein from 2022, who was Milchan’s personal assistant, Tadmor quoted Milchan where he said that Shefer referred him to “the son of Eichler… religious ultra-Orthodox folks” who had good contacts with visa approvals. Per the indictment, one of the favors Netanyahu allegedly advanced for his friend was a US visa approval after his expired.
Netanyahu’s defense narrative was that he was not aware of any side conversations or communication attempts between Milchan and his close circles, and that their friendship was separate from all that.
Tadmor asked Netanyahu, based on Klein’s testimony, if he remembers being called out of meetings by Harrow to take phone calls from Milchan - Milchan’s communication line was that important, the testimony shows. Netanyahu responded, “I’m not a dog. I don’t come when people whistle.”
Netanyahu added that there were many other times where Milchan called and he didn’t leave meetings for it, that any instance like this wasn’t a pattern.
