From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Milchan testifies he refused Sara Netanyahu’s jewelry request until PM said it was okay
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Arnon Milchan describes in court an incident from 2011 when he bought jewelry for Sara after initially refusing, but ultimately purchased the item after Netanyahu assured him it was legal to do so.
Milchan says he thinks either Sara Netanyahu or Hadas Klein initiated the request for the jewelry, but is hazy on the details so State Attorney Liat Ben Ari reads from the transcript of his testimony to the police how he had told Klein to reject the request until Netanyahu himself approved Sarah’s request.
“I asked Bibi if it wasn’t dangerous… I said to Bibi get an opinion from the attorney general [if it was legal to accept such gifts] and he got back to me and said he got approval from the attorney general and the answer was that friends can get gifts from friends, apart from a house, and there is no limit [to how much you can get],” says Milchan.
“I asked Sara to ask her husband to be sure he wouldn’t get into trouble, because it [the jewelry request] seemed to me a bit exaggerated,” he continues, affirming that the jewelry in the end was purchased for Netanyahu’s wife since the prime minister had said there was no legal problem.
“I thought there could be a complication for the prime minister and his wife,” Milchan repeats.
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