Key witness at Netanyahu trial files police complaint against journalist for doxxing
Complaint filed by Hadas Klein after journalist Eli Zipori shares tweet with a photo of her home and its address, which could constitute witness intimidation, police official says
Hadas Klein, a key prosecution witness in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, filed a police complaint on Thursday against investigative journalist Eli Zipori for harassment.
The complaint followed a tweet shared earlier Thursday by Zipori, in which he included a picture of her home in Herzliya and accused her of “hypocrisy” over her ongoing testimony in the Netanyahu trial.
“Hadas Klein who played the victim in her testimony, saying she is ‘carrying the family burden’ and ‘was almost fired,’ is living in a villa in Herzliya estimated at NIS 10 million, which she purchased back in 2013,” Zipori tweeted alongside a photo of Klein’s home. “In her testimony she spoke of renovations she did and about hosting billionaires like [James] Packer and [Arnon] Milchan.”
While a bit blurry, the picture shows the home’s address.
According to Channel 13 news, police have opened an investigation into Klein’s complaint.
“This is a clear violation of witness intimidation, it’s crossing a red line,” a senior police official told the network.
“It’s no wonder that Klein feels threatened and harassed. The state attorney must order an interview under caution of Zipori,” the unnamed official added.
This is not the first time Klein has been the target of online harassment.
In June, she was threatened by a person identifying himself as Shimon Carmieli on Twitter, posting threats and offensive messages against Klein for months that included messages like: “With God’s help, soon Hadas Klein will die” and “I hope that Hadas Klein has a seizure in her black heart.”
Klein, an assistant to billionaires Milchan and Packer, has described during her testimony at the Jerusalem District Court the incessant demands for luxury goods made for years by former prime minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara to her bosses.
Her testimony is highly significant since it undermines Netanyahu’s defense that he was merely accepting gifts from a friend and that he was also not aware of the extent of the gifts.
Klein’s testimony pertained to Case 1000 of Netanyahu’s corruption trial, in which he is charged with fraud and breach of trust for allegedly accepting luxury gifts from Milchan and Packer worth NIS 691,776 ($200,000).
The goods were provided between 2011 and 2016, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that in return, the former prime minister assisted Milchan with personal visa issues and regulatory and tax benefits relating to his business interests in Israel.
On Tuesday, Klein described how Milchan had requested and obtained Netanyahu’s help in securing a long-term US visa.
In her testimony, she said that Netanyahu and his staff connected Milchan to then-US secretary of state John Kerry and he eventually managed to obtain the 10-year visa.
Along with Case 1000, Netanyahu faces fraud and breach of trust charges in two other cases, as well as bribery in one of them. He has denied wrongdoing and claimed without evidence that the charges were fabricated and part of a bid by the state prosecution and political rivals to force him from office.
The Times of Israel Community.