Australian billionaire James Packer has agreed to testify in the explosive corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has refused to return to Israel to give his evidence.
This masthead revealed on Monday that Packer had paid at least $US1.25 million ($1.78 million) to the Tel Aviv law firm also defending Netanyahu against allegations he corruptly received benefits from the reclusive businessman and other wealthy supporters a decade ago.
Monthly wire transfers of $US50,000 have been made for the past two years from a bank account controlled by Packer’s company to the account of Netanyahu’s legal defence firm, Hadad Roth Shenhar.
The revelations have been seized upon by Israeli news outlets and Netanyahu’s political enemies one day before citizens vote in crucial national elections.
A source aware of the payments, but not authorised to speak publicly, said they should be urgently investigated to determine whether Netanyahu was receiving an undisclosed benefit as the law firm defends allegations the Israeli leader unlawfully accepted large volumes of champagne and cigars from Packer between 2014 and 2016. This masthead has not confirmed that Netanyahu benefited from the payments.
Netanyahu’s primary defence attorney is Hadad Roth Shenhar’s most senior lawyer, Amit Hadad. Further links between Packer and Hadad emerged on Monday night AEDT – including a formal request by the defence team for Packer to return to Israel to give evidence.
Hadad also wants two other Australians close to Packer – his one-time “right-hand man” Ben Tilley and the former Consolidated Press Holdings chief executive officer Guy Jalland – to also provide evidence. Neither is accused of wrongdoing but travelled frequently to Israel between 2013 and 2016 and are likely familiar with Packer and Netanyahu’s friendship.
Hadad’s request for Packer to give evidence risks sparking further questions over whether it is appropriate for the billionaire to be paying the firm given its deep involvement in the Netanyahu case, despite the fact Hadad says the work for Packer is unrelated to the trial.
Netanyahu’s legal team believes Packer, Tilley and Jalland can be assets in their argument that the charges laid against the prime minister are flawed and baseless.
However, the trio have refused to return to Israel for the case, claiming the “outrageous behaviour of the Israeli authorities has caused significant damage to Mr Packer”.
Writing on behalf of Packer, Jalland said the trio would not travel to Israel to testify because they wanted to ensure further proceedings in the case are “handled in a way that assures that our rights will be fully protected, according to the laws of our respective places of residence”.
“Mr Packer was very fond of Israel,” Jalland wrote in a letter filed in the court. “As is well known, he intended to spend a good part of his time there. Mr Packer is deeply disappointed by the treatment he has received from the Israeli authorities.
“He was shocked to learn that the Israeli investigators violated his privacy and took his private documents and private information without his knowledge or consent, with no due process procedure.”
However, Packer, Jalland and Tilley have agreed to appear remotely – likely via audiovisual link – because they were “law-abiding citizens” who would respect any order given to them by a court in the country in which they live.
“If such an order were given requiring us to testify under oath and to answer questions put by counsel for both the defence and the prosecution, we would comply.”
While Netanyahu’s team believes Packer’s evidence could support the prime minister’s view that he has done nothing wrong, testifying would also open the door for the businessman to be cross-examined by the prosecution.
The location for Packer’s potential evidence is unknown; he is currently in Argentina, spends a significant amount of time in the United States, and visits Sydney often.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked Netanyahu from receiving funds from wealthy backers to pay for his defence in the long-running corruption case.
If it was found Packer’s monthly $US50,000 payments directly or indirectly benefited Netanyahu, it could involve fresh breaches of Israeli laws governing how politicians can accept support.
When contacted by this masthead on Friday night, Packer did not deny the rolling $US50,000 payments but declined to comment.
A source close to the businessman later insisted the wire transfers to Netanyahu’s lawyers were for work done for Packer – including “deal finding” in Israel where Packer has business interests – and unrelated to the prime minister’s court case
Hadad was peppered with questions about the payments from Packer on Monday night AEDT as he entered court in Israel.
He smiled, asked reporters if they were “serious” and kept walking.
In his formal written request for Packer to give evidence at Netanyahu’s trial, Hadad noted that he and his firm represent companies controlled by Packer “on issues that have no connection to the ongoing trial”. He did not say what these matters involved.
Asked about the allegations on Monday morning, a spokesperson for Netanyahu told The Age and the Herald: “I couldn’t give a monkey’s about your questions.”
Packer found himself entangled in Netanyahu’s corruption case after gifting the prime minister champagne and cigars more than a decade ago, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Packer and Netanyahu at the time lived in neighbouring villas in the exclusive township of Caesarea and were regular guests at each other’s homes.
The Israeli leader and Packer became estranged after the corruption allegations first emerged in 2016 and did not talk for up to eight years. However, the pair reconnected around the time Netanyahu addressed the US Congress in July 2024, when Packer sat in the viewing gallery as a special guest. They later shared a Shabbat dinner.
The first payment by Packer to the prime minister’s law firm was made eight weeks after the two rekindled their friendship.
Australian Federal Police officers interviewed Packer on behalf of their Israeli counterparts in late 2017 but stressed he was a witness in the case – not a suspect – and that he co-operated fully.
Consolidated Press International (CPI), the company which had made the $US50,000 payments to Netanyahu’s law firm, is one of several private investment arms operated by Packer.
Packer’s Australian-based company Consolidated Press Holdings is now run by Sydney business identity Lawrence Myers. Myers and CPI did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Jalland, the company’s former chief executive, worked for both James Packer and his late father, Kerry Packer, for decades.