Renowned US attorney and academic Alan Dershowitz spoke to i24NEWS on Sunday and said that it is in Israel’s best interests that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be permitted to get on with the challenging task of governance.
The interview followed the testimony of businessman Arnon Milchan in Case 1000. Milchan is considered a key witness in the case, in which Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust. According to the indictment, Milchan provided the Prime Minister with kickbacks worth hundreds of thousands of shekels in exchange for allegedly advancing personal interests, while Netanyahu was in a conflict of interest.
Milchan described in his testimony how he routinely delivered tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of champagne, cigars and other gifts allegedly requested by Netanyahu.
Dershowitz, one of America's top legal minds, was not impressed by the testimony.
"As far as the Milchan testimony, it is exactly the same as we had seen before," he told i24NEWS, adding that Israel should codify into law just how much can politicians legally receive in gifts, "how much is too much." Absent such a law, the grounds for conviction are "vague," he said.
"I'm a friend of Netanyahu," Dershowitz disclosed. "Every time I come to his house I give him a gift, one of my books. Fortunately, my books are worthless."
"All the charges against Netanyahu should be dropped," he stated. "He should be allowed to govern."