Complainant against Meni Naftali draws suspicion of police

Police say man who implied that Nafatli stole groceries from the prime minister's residence has inconsistencies in his testimony.

By BEN HARTMAN
Binyamin and Sara Netanyahu leave for the US. (photo credit: AVI OHAYON - GPO)
Binyamin and Sara Netanyahu leave for the US.
(photo credit: AVI OHAYON - GPO)
Police on Tuesday questioned the man who issued a police complaint against Meni Naftali – the former manager of the Prime Minister’s Residence – earlier this week, after there were apparent inconsistencies in his testimony to investigators.
A police source said Wednesday that there were gaps between the testimony given by Avi Gabbai to investigators at the LAHAV 433 headquarters in Lod and the facts he presented to police in a written statement on Monday. The source said Gabbai was warned by investigators not to give false testimony, but added that they don’t suspect that he lied; rather they are trying to clear up the inconsistencies in his testimony.
On Monday, Gabbai issued a written complaint to Afula police alleging that he saw Naftali bring crates of groceries to his in-laws’ apartments on a weekly basis from 2009 to 2012. His complaint implied that Naftali had stolen groceries, cleaning products and other materials from his place of work at the Prime Minister’s residence.
Gabbai’s attorney Efram Damaria said his client only realized who Naftali was after seeing him on TV the past week, and therefore did not come forward earlier. He said that as a concerned citizen he wanted to notify the authorities about possible wrongdoing.
Damari, who is the brother-in-law of Likud MK Gila Gamliel, added that his client is not a Likud supporter, he votes for Labor, and that no one put him up to issuing the complaint against Naftali.
Naftali has been the center of controversy over the past few weeks over testimony he gave to police about the Netanyahu family’s spending, treatment of employees and housekeeping habits, which were the center of a recent State Comptroller’s Report.