Lapid to Testify in Netanyahu’s Trial on June 12

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid will testify in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial on June 12 regarding Case 1000, in which Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust over his relationship with mogul Arnon Milchan.

Netanyahu is accused of having received large amounts of luxury gifts such as champagne, cigars and jewelry amounting to some NIS 700,000 from Milchan.

In return, Netanyahu allegedly worked to obtain various benefits for the tycoon, including a long-term U.S. visa, and also sought to advance a law extending tax benefits to expatriate Israeli citizens who returned to the country, which Milchan may have been able to take advantage of.

Lapid, who served as finance minister when the so-called Milchan law was mulled in 2013 and 2014, gave testimony to police in the case. His scheduled testimony at the Yerushalayim District Court is not expected to last more than a day, although Netanyahu’s defense attorneys will cross-examine him.

Lapid has previously stated that pressure had been put on him to advance the law but that he and his Yesh Atid party acted as “the last barrier against government corruption.”