Former Prime Ministerial Chief of Staff Ari Harrow was detained Thursday morning at Ben Gurion International Airport upon his arrival from abroad. Harrow served as chief of staff to PM Benjamin Netanyahu in 2014.
A spokesperson for Israel Police said the National Fraud Investigation unit asked Harrow to provide testimony about Netanyahu’s alleged financial misappropriations. Earlier this week, Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit ordered an initial probe into the prime minister’s actions as part of the wider investigation of financial activity by government officials.
Although the Los Angeles-born former chief of staff was taken into custody, it was made clear that he was not under investigation himself, nor was he being arrested.
Other government officials who have been under investigation include Opposition Leader and Zionist Union chairman MK Isaac Herzog, former Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirschenbaum and former Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov of Yisrael Beitenu, and former Defense Minister Binyamin ‘Fuad’ Ben-Eliezer among others.