Ari Harow said to tell friends he is no traitor to Netanyahu

Ari Harow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s one-time chief of staff who turned state’s witness in the corruption probe against the premier, reportedly told friends that he is not a traitor against his former boss.

Days before signing the agreement to turn state’s witness, Harow told close friends in synagogue that he had done nothing wrong while serving the prime minister or in testifying against him, Channel 2 news reported on Sunday. The report did not say how it had obtained the quotes.

Harow said that he was not betraying Netanyahu. “The definition of state’s witness is not someone from inside who turns traitor against his boss,” he said. “Case 2000 is not a case that I opened. It is something that fell on me against my will while I was there. My ability to speak or not speak with the police is irrelevant.”

Case 2000 involves an alleged quid-pro-quo deal negotiated between Netanyahu and a newspaper publisher for favorable coverage in exchange for the prime minister hobbling a rival paper.

While attempting to clear his own name, Harow didn’t tell his friends whether he thought the prime minister had committed a crime, the report said.

“They are accusing me of crimes that are unconnected to the prime minister and in my opinion I have not committed them,” he said, according to the TV report. “The choice is not whether me or [Netanyahu] will go to jail. Rather it is whether I will go to jail for no reason or not.”

The California-born former chief of staff and aide said he was proud of having worked for Netanyahu.

“I served twice in the Prime Minister’s Office because of Zionism, because they called me,” he said. “I am proud of the time I served the public under Netanyahu and I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

He also told his friends that his case was nothing like that of Shula Zaken, an aide to former prime minister Ehud Olmert who turned state’s witness against Olmert and served six months in jail for complicity in his crimes.

“This is not comparable [to Shula Zaken],” Harow reportedly said, “I didn’t break the law together with Netanyahu and am now trying to blame this on him to escape punishment.”

Zaken provided prosecutors with recordings of conversations she held with Olmert in which he allegedly offered her bribes to not bear witness against him.

Harow told his friends he had not committed any crimes.

“I never thought at the time that these were criminal acts, and even now I am convinced of it. Therefore the claim that this is ‘turning on Netanyahu’ is incorrect. This is not my lexicon at all,” Channel 2 quoted him as saying.

In 2010, between his two stints in the Prime Minister’s Office, Harow founded 3H Global, an international government relations firm based in Israel. According to the company’s website, the firm was founded “to help governments, NGOs and businesses.”

When Harow was appointed Netanyahu’s chief of staff for the second time, he gave up control of the company to his brother Josh Harow, who currently serves as its chief financial officer. However, police suspect the transfer was fictitious, causing a conflict of interest.

In December 2015, Harow was questioned by police under caution for a range of offenses he was suspected to have committed while working in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Harow told his synagogue friends that everything he had done was aboveboard.

“The accusations against me are baseless. I didn’t do anything with my company without legal advice,” he told them. “In other circumstances, I would have gone to fight, but with the current situation and in light of the resources invested, that would be pointless.”

He demonstrated his innocence based on the light punishment he is reportedly to receive.

“I will apparently receive several months of community service,” he said. “If the evidence against me was so strong I would go to jail for five years and the prosecution would never have agreed to be so lenient.”

Police on Thursday explicitly said for the first time that a number of corruption investigations involving Netanyahu deal with “bribery, fraud and breach of trust.” The police stopped short of saying that the Israeli leader was directly suspected of those crimes.

Netanyahu has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Harow first worked for Netanyahu as foreign affairs adviser during his stint as leader of the opposition. He then spearheaded the 2009 election campaign that catapulted Netanyahu back into office. After the election, he served as the prime minister’s bureau chief until 2010, managing Netanyahu’s schedule and advising him on a range of issues.

On Friday, Hebrew media said that police are expected to recommend charges be brought against Netanyahu in Case 2000, in which he is suspected of negotiating a quid-pro-quo deal for favorable coverage with a newspaper publisher, and another case, known as Case 1000, involving alleged illicit gifts received by Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, from wealthy businessmen.

According to a statement from the Israel Police, Harow is expected to receive six months of community service and a NIS 700,000 fine ($193,000) on breach of trust charges in exchange for testimony in both probes.

Channel 2 reported Friday that Harow was sent by Netanyahu to finalize the deal with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Noni Mozes, giving him — and police — firsthand knowledge of the suspected agreement. Harow reportedly gave police details on the understandings reached between Netanyahu and Mozes, strengthening the police case beyond audio recordings discovered on Harow’s computer of the meetings between the prime minister and the publisher in late 2014 and early 2015.