Israeli opposition leader says Netanyahu tried to get him to back tax breaks for Hollywood mogul

JERUSALEM —  Israel’s opposition leader testified Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently tried to persuade him — twice — to back legislation that would have given a Hollywood mogul and personal pal millions of dollars in tax breaks.

But Yair Lapid, a former prime minister and a major Netanyahu rival, said he remained unpersuaded.

Lapid made the statements as he testified in Jerusalem in one of three corruption cases against Netanyahu. The indictment alleges that Netanyahu abused his position to further Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan’s interests in exhange for gifts, representing a conflict between the premier’s public duties and personal friendship.

Netanyahu did personal favors for Milchan, including asking U.S. officials to extend Milchan’s green card and renewing Israeli regulations that exempted Israeli returnees from declaring foreign income, according to the indictment.

Lapid testified Monday that Milchan and his attorneys had tried first without success to persuade him that extending the tax breaks for a decade would be good for Israel, Israeli media reported. Then Netanyahu broached the matter twice with Lapid, he testified — once at the prime minister’s residence and once outside a Cabinet meeting, according to the reports.

Lapid said that he told Netanyahu it wasn’t going to happen and that the prime minister responded by saying it was “a good law.”

World & Nation

Israeli lawmakers advance bill on $270,000 gift to Netanyahu

Israeli lawmakers have advanced a bill that could allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing corruption charges, to keep his late cousin’s $270,000 donation to cover legal fees.

March 6, 2023

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, denies claims of wrongdoing, asserting instead that he was not acting in Milchan’s personal interests and even occasionally acted against them. He says exchanges of gifts between him and Milchan were merely friendly gestures.

Milchan is expected to testify in the case in a video call from London, where he resides, sometime later this month.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that in 2013, Lapid, then finance minister, sought legal advice on the possibility of promoting the legislation that would have benefited Milchan. Earlier, Lapid had reportedly said he replied, “No way,” to Netanyahu and Milchan about the prospects for the legislation.

Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing.

Politics

Longtime Israel backers in U.S. turn outraged critics — but Biden administration remains distant

Crisis in Israel deepens over the new government’s radical plans, which have alienated and dismayed Israelis and Jewish Americans alike.

March 21, 2023

Critics say that Netanyahu is on a campaign to weaken the courts and change the judicial system in order to open an escape route from his trial, claims he dismisses as untrue.

The corruption charges also have been at the center of a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years — each vote essentially a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule. After losing power in 2021 to a coalition of opponents, Netanyahu returned as prime minister late last year, despite his legal problems. Under Israeli law, the prime minister has no obligation to step aside while on trial.

The trial, which began in May 2020, has featured more than 40 prosecution witnesses, including some of Netanyahu’s closest former confidants. Witness accounts have shed light not only on the three cases but also revealed sensational details about Netanyahu’s character and his family’s reputation for living off the largesse of taxpayers and wealthy supporters.