The strange affair of James Packer and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Sara Netanyahu – the high-maintenance wife of the Israeli Prime Minister – needed some household maintenance.

Who did she call to fix a leak in their personal residence overlooking the Mediterranean Sea? The works department of the Prime Minister’s office? One of her bodyguards? A local handyman?

No. Strangely, Netanyahu called the office of a movie producer, Arnon Milchan, who had agreed to split the cost of requests from the prime ministerial spouse with a younger family friend he had introduced to elite Israeli society, James Packer.

Eventually, the Netanyahu family received around $US280,000 in free champagne, cigars, concert tickets, food and accommodation over 10 years, according police evidence leaked to the Israeli press.

Read the article by Aaron Patrick in the Australian Financial Review.