Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a dominating political force in Israel and
beyond, is at the center of multiple political scandals.
Cases of corruption have come up against him, and some of his closest advisors and confidants.
Recently, police even recommended that Netanyahu be charged for his alleged involvement in
two of the incidents.
Even though Netanyahu has written these allegations off as a political “witch hunt” against
him and “fake news” we want to explore what these cases are all about in the first
place.
Hey guys I’m Judah, you’re watching NowThis World and in today’s episode we’re going
to break down the four cases of alleged corruption against Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu,
or people close to him.
Let's start with the first case, called “Case 1000.”
In this case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are alleged to have received almost $300,000
worth of expensive gifts, like fancy cigars and champagne, in exchange for political favors
from businessmen over the span of 10 years.
The two men who are said to be behind those alleged bribes are Israeli-born Hollywood
producer Arnon Milchan -- who’s hit movies include “pretty woman” and recent Oscar
winner “12 years a slave” -- and Australian casino mogul James Packer.
Israeli police claim that Milchan received a number of benefits for his gifts to Netanyahu,
including the Prime Minister pushing for the passing of the so-called “Milchan Law”
which gives tax breaks to Israelis who want to return to Israel after living overseas
-- a law that would directly benefit Milchan, as the name of the law implies.
Netanyahu is also accused of helping Milchan to get a 10 year visa to the United States,
preventing the collapse of a Television channel he had shares in, and more.
The other Billionaire we mentioned earlier, James Packer, was a partner of Melchan -- but
police haven’t said how exactly he benefited from the Prime Minister.
Here’s the thing -- Netanyahu doesn’t even deny receiving these gifts in the first
place.
He’s told police that he has indeed been given gifts by the billionaires -- but he
denies that favors were given in exchange for them.
He says the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts, were just….
Tokens of their friendship...
In this case the police have recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud,
and breach of trust.
The next case is “Case 2000.”
In this one, police say they have evidence that implicates Netanyahu in a conspiracy
with Arnon Mozes, the owner of the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Police say the two men agreed to a mutually beneficial relationship that was not in the
public’s best interest.
Here’s a little background information that’s important to know: Mozes’ paper has historically
been critical of Netanyahu.
The two by no means, before this point, have been seen as close confidants of any sorts.
Local media even report that behind closed doors Netanyahu would refer to Mozes as “Voldemort”
(you know that villian from the Harry Potter).
Now back to what exactly was negotiated between the two men.
Netanyahu reportedly had asked for more sympathetic coverage from Mozes’ paper.
In return he would apparently push legislation forward that would hurt his competitor, Israel
Hayom (which is widely seen as a pro-netanyahu paper that also happens to be bankrolled by
American billionaire Sheldon Adelson).
Reportedly, police found audio recordings of the conversation on the phone of Netanyahu's
former chief of staff, Ari Harow.
Harrow is now serving as the state’s witness in the case against Netanyahu, in exchange
for a lighter sentence in his own case.
The Prime Minister denies any wrong-doing here also.
He doesn’t deny that the conversations took place, but rather says that they were part
of a plan to get incriminating evidence against Mozes if he ever tried to blackmail Netanyahu.
But the police aren’t buying that story.
In this case they have recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud, and breach
of trust in this case as well.
Now, onto “Case 3000.”
Netanyahu is not a suspect in this specific case, but a number of his top advisors are.
So we’ll just briefly touch on this one.
The case revolves around alleged corruption and bribery in a state purchase of German
nuclear submarines.
Police allege that some of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, used their influence to negotiate
the deal and skim profits off the top.
Here’s the thing, Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, also represents the Israeli agent
of the same German shipyard that makes the Submarines.
Police have not recommended Netanyahu be indicted in this case.
This investigation is reportedly still developing so it’s certainly one we’ll continue to
watch.
Now, the last corruption case so far -- Case 4000.
Some reports suggest this case would be the most likely to lead to an indictment of Netanyahu.
This case is centered around allegations that Netanyahu used his influence to help his friend
Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Israeli telecommunications giant Bezeq.
According to state prosecutors, Netanyahu advanced regulatory benefits worth well over
$200,000.
In return, Elovitch’s news site ‘Walla!’
would give Netanyahu favorable coverage.
Both Netanyahu and Elovitch deny any wrongdoing in this case.
But the man who ran Netanyahu’s Communication ministry tells a different story.
In February, Shlomo Filber signed a state’s witness agreement to work with prosecutors,
AND he accuses Netanyahu of directly ordering him to carry out the corruption scheme.
ALSO earlier this month, former Netanyahu family spokesperson and suspect in case 4000
Nir Hefetz, also signed a deal to turn state's witness.
As of the shooting of this video, police have not yet recommended that Netanyahu be indicted
in this case.
In addition to all of these cases, Netanyahu's wife Sara is also likely to be indicted in
her own scandal.
She allegedly misused public funds to pay for private chefs and more.
Despite whatever evidence is brought up, the decision whether the Netanyahu’s will be
indicted on any of these cases lies in the hand of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit,
who was once a political appointee of Netanyahu’s.
Despite their history, the Attorney General says he would not hesitate to indict Netanyahu
if necessary.
If he does move forward with the indictment, it could topple one Israel’s longest -serving
Prime Ministers to date, and have repercussions not only in Israel, but the entire region.
The cases against Netanyahu certainly aren't the only political scandals going on around
the world today -- so which ones do you want us to cover next?
Let me know in the comments below!
And as always thanks for watching NowThis World and please don’t forget to give this
video a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for more like this every week.