Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had dinner last week with Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is a state’s witness against him in his corruption cases, Channel 13 reported on Sunday.

According to Channel 13, Netanyahu had dinner with Ellison and Dr. David Agus, a professor of the University of Southern California’s Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine.

They were seen at Nobu Lanai, a very expensive restaurant on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, where the Netanyahu family has been vacationing at the Four Seasons Hotel, one of the most expensive hotels in the world.

The Likud responded that the witness list includes hundreds of people, including MKs and his own staff, and there is no prohibition to speak to them.

Netanyahu himself has not reacted to Friday’s meeting of his successor, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, with US President Joe Biden, following the tradition that the opposition does not criticize a prime minister when he is abroad. 

But his Likud party, MKs close to him, and his son Yair have all fiercely criticized Bennett.

“For a picture at the White House, Bennett completely folded,” the Likud said in a statement retweeted by Netanyahu. “He harmed the security of the State of Israel when he promised not to publicly fight against Iran’s return to the nuclear deal. This is a dangerous decision that combines ineptitude, irresponsibility and bad leadership.”

Likud MK Ofir Akunis called it “humiliating” and “a complete failure” that Biden gave Bennett less than half an hour of his time.

Yair Netanyahu repeatedly retweeted pictures and reports that indicated incorrectly that Biden had fallen asleep during the meeting. He posted pictures of his father being received at the White House for the Abraham Accords, and said “this is how a real leader is received. Bennett the charlatan, I am happy you received an inconsequential selfie with Biden. It cost the public millions and resulted in not reacting to the shooting of an IDF soldier on the Gaza border.”

Netanyahu, who is accused of receiving illicit gifts from wealthy benefactors, insisted that he was paying for his vacation.

Netanyahu is on trial for charges of fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, as well as bribery in one of them. He denies wrongdoing.

Ellison is one of several hundred prosecution witnesses in Netanyahu’s corruption trial. His name reportedly came up in two of the cases and a report last year said he lobbied and convinced Israeli mogul Arnon Milchan to drop his lawyer so Netanyahu could hire him.

Ellison, the cofounder and chairman of Oracle Corporation, purchased 98 percent of Lanai in 2012 for a reported $300 million.

Netanyahu and his family flew abroad to vacation two weeks ago despite the Health Ministry and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urging Israelis to avoid non-essential overseas travel amid surging COVID-19 cases in Israel and elsewhere. Officials have also warned of new coronavirus variants entering the country.

Under current Health Ministry guidelines, the Netanyahus will be required to quarantine for a week upon returning.

Image source: VOA