The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning convicted Los Angeles-born Ari Harow, 51, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff and one of the state’s witnesses against the PM, of fraud and breach of trust.
Harow was convicted based on his confession as part of a plea deal he had signed as part of the state witness agreement in cases 1000 and 2000 against Netanyahu.
His conviction is on a fictitious sale of a consulting company he owned before assuming the position of chief of staff in Netanyahu’s office in January 2014.
Harow made Aliyah with his family in 1985 at the age of 12. He served in the Golani Brigade, and after his discharge returned to the US to complete a degree in Psychology at Brooklyn College.
In 2007, Harow assumed the role of foreign affairs advisor to Likud Party Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. Tasked with executing Netanyahu’s foreign policies, Harow had been informally advising him on foreign affairs for several years before the official appointment. In 2008, Harow was named Netanyahu’s Bureau Chief, overseeing the Prime Minister’s schedule. He is considered to have been one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants.
In 2010, Harow established 3H Global, an international government relations firm based in Israel. However, in 2014, he returned to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, this time as the Chief of Staff, departing from the position in January 2015.
In February 2017, after a two-year criminal investigation, Israel Police recommended indicting Harow on charges of bribery, breach of trust, fraud, and money laundering. By early August 2017, Harow had entered into an agreement with the prosecution, to become a state’s witness in two corruption cases involving Netanyahu.
Harow’s plea agreement stipulated that he would be sentenced to six months of community service and pay a fine of NIS 700,000 ($192,000). It was also determined that the phase of the arguments for sentencing will depend on the opinion of the judiciary’s supervisor of community service.
Friends of Ari Harow have told JewishPress.com that Harow is well-liked in his social circles of mostly fellow Olim. He is always friendly, they say, and despite his years of access to power – he is not pretentious in the least.
Back in 2017, Harow told News12: “It is not that I broke the law with Netanyahu and now I am looking for a way to blame it on him so I can get away with it. I am being blamed for something that has nothing to do with him… It is not a situation in which either I or he are going to jail, but whether or not I am going to jail, for no reason.”
Regarding his police investigation, Harow said that the charges were baseless. “I did not do anything regarding my company without consulting a lawyer,” he said. “In other circumstances, I would have gone to battle, but in this situation, it seems pointless in light of the resources being invested [to find evidence against Netanyahu].”
“I came here to serve – twice – because of Zionism, because I was called to duty,” he said. “This is the reason I made Aliyah, and why I am raising my children here. I am proud of the time I served the public under Netanyahu. I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
