The trial of Benjamin Netanyahu resumed on Monday morning in Jerusalem District Court, the first proceedings since Israel’s November 1 election.
The court is scheduled to hear testimony from Herzliya restauranteur Yaakov Gershoni and chef Limor Dikovsky-Meroz, who worked for Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan. Both will be testifying about Case 1000, commonly referred to as the Gifts Affair.
For the first time, Netanyahu was referred to in court as “Prime Minister Designate.”
Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, accepting bribes and breach of trust stemming from three separate police investigations. The Prime Minister Designate has continually denied all charges of wrongdoing.
In the case of the Gifts Affair, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting $200,000 in gifts from Milchan in exchange for helping the billionaire obtain a visa to work in the US, changing certain tax provisions to benefit Milchan and help Milchan advance his interests in TV station he he partially owns.
In the second investigation, known as the Yediot Affair, Netanyahu allegedly helped Yediot Aharonot publish Arnon “Noni” Mozes by advancing regulations on the distributions of newspapers to Mozes advantage. In exchange, Mozes is accused of providing Netanyahu — who was Communications Minister at the time — with favorable coverage.
The third investigation is the “Bezeq Affair,” in which Netanyahu — also as Communications Minister — gave regulatory benefits to the Bezeq telecomm giant. In return, Bezeq’s majority shareholder, Shaul Elovitch, gave Netanyahu favorable coverage on the Walla News site, which Elovitch owns.
