Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted Channel 10 News on Monday after it aired a report scrutinizing his ties with Australian billionaire friend James Packer, saying journalist Raviv Drucker, has reached "a record low" in his personal attacks on the prime minister. Drucker's report, which aired Monday, claimed night that Jacob Weinroth, an attorney who occasionally represents Netanyahu, approached Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and asked that Packer, who is not Jewish, be granted permanent residency in Israel. Weinroth made it clear that he was acting on behalf Packer alone and that Netanyahu was not behind this request, which has been denied. Drucker reported that Packer bought a home close to Netanyahu's residence in Caesarea and that he lets Netanyahu hold his weekend meetings there. On top of that, Drucker alleged Packer let Netanyahu's son, Yair, stay at his apartment in Tel Aviv for several weeks. A spokesperson for the Netanyahu family denied Drucker's report, issuing a statement saying: "It is just shocking to see how low a so-called journalist is willing to go. Drucker, who has been obsessive in his sickening pursuit of the prime minister and his wife, is now trying to smear their sons, one of whom is a student and the other serving in a combat unit. "We assume Drucker's decision to engage in more slimy tactics is a response to the prime minister's Facebook post, in which he shared an investigative piece on Drucker published by the site Mida, showing the extent to which Drucker meddles in the affairs of the state comptroller. This includes unprecedented phone conversations with the state comptroller and his role in appointing a childhood friend as the comptroller's legal adviser, a childhood friend who helped him found the Movement for Freedom of Information, which should be called 'The Movement for the Freedom of Information on Netanyahu.'" The statement goes on to attack Drucker's organization. "The article [on Mida] also shed light on the extensive funding the movement gets from the New Israel Fund and the European Union," it said. "Yair is a private citizen and a student. He does not have to report to anyone, but since Drucker has put forth so many lies and distortions we will share information that we are not legally obliged to share: Mr. Packer is a family friend; Yair studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lives in the capital. He has every right to occasionally stay as a guest at the homes of friends and family friends who live outside the city -- not for a month as has been falsely reported -- just like Drucker stays at his friends' homes and the homes of his family friends when he goes outside Tel Aviv." The Prime Minister's Office issued a separate statement to counter Drucker's suggestion that Netanyahu's sons have an inflated protective detail that includes a driver and a car on the taxpayers' dime. "The security as well as travel and lodging arrangements surrounding the prime minister's children are determined by the Security Division at the Prime Minister's Office. Decisions on such matters are made exclusively based on the operational needs and other security considerations. They are not determined by the prime minister and his family." The Mida article on Drucker, which was written by Moshe Ifergan, raised questions on the possible links between the New Israel Fund, the Movement for Freedom of Information and State Comptroller Yosef Shapira. According Ifergan, one of the co-founders of Drucker's organization, Professor Yoram Rabin, left the movement and was appointed as the state comptroller's legal adviser. Ifergan also claimed that the New Israel Fund, which promotes various left-wing initiatives, helped found the movement.
