Netanyahu Accused of Breaking Promise to Victims’ Families in Terrorism Case

The family’s lawyers filed a response that said Netanyahu aide Jordana Cutler had assured them in a phone call on April 1, 2012 that that the prime minister would allow former government agent Uzi Shaya to testify against the bank.

Soon after, on May 14, 2012, then-Israeli Ambassador to the Michael Oren called Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to confirm that Shaya would testify. The assurances had come in reply to a letter Ros-Lehtinen had personally delivered to Netanyahu from the Wultz family in March 2012, said the response.

However, last November the Israeli government moved to block Shaya from testifying, citing national security concerns. Some reports in the media attributed that to pressure from China on Israel, which is seeking improved bilateral ties.

Then-16-year-old American Wultz was killed in a suicide bombing in Israel in 2006, and his family has accused the bank of facilitating the attack by providing wire transfer services to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which orchestrated the attack.

Tuesday’s revelation came on the same day that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Israel for a rare high-level visit.

This article appeared in print on page 37B of the December 18th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.