Witness: Netanyahu given expensive gifts

Billionaire’s assistant testifies at trial

JERUSALEM — A key witness in the corruption trial of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has testified that her billionaire boss ordered her to deliver gifts of champagne, cigars and expensive jewelry to the then-Israeli premier, in a scandal at the center of the country’s political crisis.

The expensive gifts lavished upon the former Israeli leader by wealthy friends are the subject of one of the three corruption cases against Netanyahu. He stands accused of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, charges he has denied and dismissed as part of an attempt to oust him from office.

The Netanyahus “love gifts, and they love pink champagne and cigars for Bibi,” Hadas Klein, the longtime assistant of one of the former premier’s friends, testified Tuesday, using the prime minister’s nickname.

The ongoing trial, already in its second year, is addressing allegations that while in office, Netanyahu accepted gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.

Klein, Milchan’s longtime assistant, told the Jerusalem District Court that she had been instructed to buy gifts for the prime minister and his wife so that Milchan could stay in the couple’s good graces.

“You can’t come empty-handed, because if you come empty-handed you won’t be invited again,” Israeli media quoted her as telling the court.

In additional testimony Wednesday, Klein presented receipts for cigars amounting to some $12,000 and described demands from the then-prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, for bottles of champagne and jewelry, Israeli media reported.

During the testimony, Klein also elaborated on mistreatment she faced, telling the court the prime minister’s wife screamed at her when she failed to provide the requested gifts.

The indictment claims Netanyahu used his position of power to further Milchan’s interests, representing a conflict between his public duties and personal friendship. Netanyahu did personal favors for Milchan, including asking U.S. officials to extend Milchan’s U.S. resident’s permit and extending Israeli regulations exempting Israeli returnees from declaring foreign income, according to the indictment.