JERUSALEM: Israeli police plan to question US billionaire and World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder as part of an inquiry into gifts for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports said Wednesday.
Lauder had refused to be questioned after arriving in the country for last week’s funeral of ex-president Shimon Peres, Channel 2 reported.
An agreement was reached in which investigators will either travel to New York in the coming days or Lauder will return to Israel.
“I am coming from a commemoration for the Babi Yar massacre (the execution of more than 34,000 Jews by the Nazis in Ukraine), and I arrive for the funeral of a good friend ... and you arrest me?” he said..
Authorities have been looking into spending and gifts related to Netanyahu, though Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has stressed that a formal investigation has not been opened.
Israeli police to question US billionaire in Netanyahu probe
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