Was the former media magnate James Packer really tempted to get back into the newspaper printing business? Not here, but in Israel?
The casino billionaire has been mentioned in the ongoing court case where Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces trial for allegedly accepting gifts from wealthy friends.
Packer was said to have met with Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the largest national newspaper Yedioth, to discuss its potential purchase, after Mozes was allegedly briefed by Netanyahu. It was part of Netanyahu’s alleged wider plan to see the country’s contrarian media outlets in the ownership of friendly billionaires.
The claim, as reported this week by the Haaretz news website, was that Netanyahu wanted an Israeli patriot to buy it “in order to ensure the future of the country”.
The PM reportedly also encouraged another billionaire, Larry Ellison, the US-based co-founder of software giant Oracle, to step up. Mozes was said to have met Ellison 10 times.
There was also billionaire businessman and film producer Arnon Milchan on the PM’s list of prospects.
Packer first met Netanyahu at a dinner hosted by Milchan six years ago. Seems not all the of Netanyahu office was on the same page though.
“I told Netanyahu that Packer is dangerous,” Ari Harow, the PM’s former chief of staff who has signed an agreement to testify against his old boss, has advised.
“But Netanyahu wanted Packer to buy the paper,” Harow has reportedly alleged, though without explanation. Harow was present at the briefing.
The prime minister has told investigators that he wasn’t driven by personal motives, but as an Israeli patriot, “to ensure the future of the country”.
Packer was interviewed as one of 333 potential witnesses in the case but was not accused of any criminal conduct.
Read the article by Jonathan Chancellor in The Australian.