UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan is expected to testify in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Case 4000 corruption trial this week.
Erdan’s testimony was set for Monday, and no later than Wednesday. The ambassador will testify on allegations that Netanyahu had pledged to change regulations to further the interests of Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch in return for positive news coverage from his outlet Walla.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud and breach of trust, and both he and Elovitch are charged with bribery.
Netanyahu's former chief of staff in the middle of his testimony
Erdan’s testimony may interrupt that of Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, Ari Harow, who is expected to finish his testimony this week.
The American-born Harow took the stand last Monday as a state’s witness – a condition for his pending plea bargain for his own fraud and breach of trust charges.
However, during the defense’s cross-examination on Wednesday, Harow admitted that he believed the case against him was manufactured to help investigators pressure Netanyahu.
As part of Case 2000, Harow testified last Monday that Netanyahu and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon Mozes had conducted off-the-books meetings at his residence, in which the two discussed hobbling rival free newspaper Israel Hayom with legislation.
Netanyahu sought more positive coverage from the antagonistic Mozes, Harow explained, and later sought Yediot Aharonot’s sale to a more ideologically sympathetic owner.
Under Case 1000, Harow had also testified that business tycoon Arnon Milchan had given the Netanyahu family expensive gifts. Harow related that Milchan had sought the prime minister’s aid to obtain a US visa, but the defense denied that there was a connection between the two actions.