{"id":163936,"date":"2021-02-09T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T16:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=163936"},"modified":"2021-02-09T12:41:12","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:41:12","slug":"netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Pleads Not Guilty in Corruption Case Involving James Packer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty to corruption charges Monday before abruptly leaving the Jerusalem District Court 20 minutes after the start of his trial.<\/p>\n

\"Netanyahu\"
James Packer (left) claims he showered Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his family with gifts because they were friends. (Image: Morning Bulletin<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 71-year-old is facing charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in a case that has entangled Crown Resorts casino mogul James Packer, two media tycoons, and an Israeli intelligence operative turned Hollywood producer.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was indicted in November by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit following a long police investigation. The prosecution accuses the country\u2019s longest-serving prime minister of accepting lavish gifts from Packer and Packer associate Arnon Milchan, and of attempting to manipulate the press.<\/p>\n

Packer\u2019s Largesse<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Although Packer received some bad news on the home front<\/a> today, he is not accused of a crime. But he is likely to be called<\/a> to testify in Netanhayu\u2019s trial. Prosecutors are expected to quiz the Australian billionaire about why he and former spy Milchan, who produced the movies Pretty Woman, JFK, and 12 Years a Slave, among many others, showered the Netanyahu family with gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

Packer previously told investigators that he liked giving the Netanyahus gifts because they were friends.<\/p>\n

The gifts, mainly cigar boxes and champagnes, were given to Netanyahu and his wife by Milchan and Packer continuously in response to requests and even demands, including through deliveries, even when Milchan and Packer did not stay in Israel, to the extent that they became a \u2018supply line\u2019,\u201d reads the indictment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAs part of his business, Packer was the owner of a company in Israel that operated in the investments field of Israeli companies in the hi-tech industry,\u201d it continues. \u201cPacker also looked into investments in Israel in the communications field. In the years 2014-2016, Packer purchased a home in Israel and has worked to receive residency status in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adelson Falling Out <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Netanyahu is also accused of backing regulatory decisions to favor media mogul Shaul Elovitch, owner of telecom giant Bezeq, in return for positive coverage. Separately, it\u2019s alleged he tried to negotiate a deal with the publisher of Israel\u2019s leading daily newspaper,\u00a0Yedioth Ahronoth,<\/em>\u00a0to suppress its criticism of him.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu allegedly promised the newspaper\u2019s owner, Arnon Mozes, that he would convince his friend, the late Sheldon Adelson, to cut circulation of Israel Hayom, a competing paper owned by the Adelson family,\u00a0 in return for favorable coverage.<\/p>\n

\n

Adelson told Israeli police in October 2018 that he had not been consulted on this matter and was reportedly incensed. He said he would \u201cnever meet [Netanyahu] again because of what I read,\u201d according to the interview transcript.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Netanyahu honored Adelson<\/a> as a \u201cgreat Jewish patriot\u201d when he paid his respects during a short memorial service last month after his former friend lost his fight with cancer.<\/p>\n

The prime minister declined to speak to the media as he left the court Monday, but later offered the following comment about the day\u2019s events on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows that the cases against me are a stitch-up, and today, it turns out that they are not even stitched very well,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope they do not interfere in the election, but even if they do, we will win big. Thank you for your tremendous support!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty to corruption charges Monday before abruptly leaving the Jerusalem District Court 20 minutes after the start of his trial. The 71-year-old is facing charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in a case that has entangled Crown Resorts casino mogul James Packer, two media tycoons, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":163937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNetanyahu Pleads Not Guilty in Corruption Case Involving Tycoon Packer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, pleads not guilty to corruption and to accepting bribes from Crown Resorts James Packer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netanyahu Pleads Not Guilty in Corruption Case Involving Tycoon Packer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, pleads not guilty to corruption and to accepting bribes from Crown Resorts James Packer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-09T16:50:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-09T20:41:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/netanyahu-packer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/\",\"name\":\"Netanyahu Pleads Not Guilty in Corruption Case Involving Tycoon Packer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/netanyahu-packer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-09T16:50:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-09T20:41:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, pleads not guilty to corruption and to accepting bribes from Crown Resorts James Packer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-in-corruption-case-involving-tycoon-packer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/netanyahu-packer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/netanyahu-packer.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"James Packer (left) claims he showered Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and family with gifts because they were friends. 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