Israel’s opposition leader has testified at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial in Jerusalem.
Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist party Yesh Atid and a major rival of Netanyahu, took the stand for the case dubbed Case 1000, which accused Netanyahu of using his power to promote the personal interests of the Israeli businessman and Hollywood tycoon, Arnon Milchan, between 2007 and 2016.
According to the indictment, Netanyahu asked US officials to extend Milchan’s US residence visa and attempted to grant him tax breaks in Israel. In exchange, Netanyahu and his family allegedly received expensive cigars, champagne, and jewellery worth about one million new shekels ($279,000) from Milchan.
The case is one of three in which Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, Xinhua news agency reported.
Lapid, who was then the Finance Minister, told the court that Netanyahu contacted him twice regarding a bill to extend regulations that exempt Israeli returnees from declaring foreign income.
“Netanyahu told me twice that it’s a good bill,” Lapid said.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, denied all allegations against him, calling the indictment part of “a witch hunt”.
Milchan is expected to give his testimony for the prosecution later in June via video from London, where he currently resides, due to his frail health.
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