Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday thanked the thousands of supporters who rallied yesterday for him and for financing his legal expenses through a crowdfunding campaign.
"Thank you, the masses of Israel's citizens, for your tremendous support and wonderful love in recent days," Netanyahu wrote. "Your warmth moved me and my family with an unparalleled excitement."
Yinon Magal, one of Netanyahu's most prominent supporters in the Israeli news media, announced yesterday that he had launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance Netanyahu's legal expenses.
Already, the campaign has raised NIS 2,591,013 ($832,510) out of a targeted goal of NIS 5 million ($1.6 million).
“Friends, here it is – a crowdfunding page to raise money to cover Netanyahu’s legal expenses. He is not alone – and this is the least we can do to show him that we’re there for him. I’ve made my donation,” Magal announced.
Magal went out of his way to stress that he had not discussed the move with Netanyahu himself. “I didn’t ask him for his opinion. I just figured that even for someone wealthy, expenses that can mount into the tens of millions are not easy to bear, and could become a factor in deciding how to act. And as a person who believes that he is there fighting for me, too, it’s the least I could do.”