Published: 8 July 2022
Last updated: 18 January 2024
A former employee of both Arnon Milchan and James Packer told the court she delivered luxury goods to the Netanyahus
Hadas Klein, Milchan's personal assistant and later Packer’s Israeli representative, testified in the Jerusalem District Court that she was tasked with delivering the gifts to Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.
Klein testified that Milchan would visit the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem with a bag on his shoulder containing cigars for Netanyahu. “It was impossible to go there without gifts,” she said. “There were a lot of requests from Sara to replace watch batteries, including Mr. Netanyahu’s watches. One time, she asked if I could also replace a [watch] band,” Klein recounted.
"One of the things Arnon Milchan taught Packer – aside from to love Israel, its landscape, language and people – was that when you travel to Jerusalem to visit the Netanyahus, you can't come empty-handed."
The former prime minister’s lawyer, Amit Haddad, then objected to the line of testimony saying that it involved information that was not in the indictment.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing in this and the other two cases on which he is being tried. In Case 1000, he claimed that the gifts from Milchan to himself and his wife were gifts between friends. In her statement to the police, however, Klein told police that the couple demanded that Milchan supply them with cigars, bottles of champagne, and jewellery. "I drove to Caesarea and physically delivered to Sara coats for Netanyahu.”
‘Milchan Taught Packer That You Can’t Come To Meet the Netanyahus Empty Handed’
Key witness at trial describes the Netanyahus’ incessant demands for gifts
Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jerusalem District Court, in March (Ohad Zwigenberg/Haaretz)
