"It was behavior, meaning that when you come to a place like this, you feel like you're coming to a place of warm family. Some families don't work that way anyway. Another interesting thing is that for a considerable time I didn't know he wasn't a family member. I didn't know" (Prov. p. 1617, s. 26).
The witness Mordechai Harel also described the relationship, and noted:
"... Fouad was always a very, very good friend of Roy's, their friendship was above and beyond that of a son and a father and that was the feeling... Fouad would always come to Roy and he would always hang out with him for dinners and lunches, they were always together..." (Prov. p. 1399, s. 9).
Haim Yehezkel also described how Ben-Eliezer would refer to the defendant as "Ivany" with all the implications that accompany it (Prov. p. 1029, paras. 4-7).
Ra'anan Cohen, who previously served as a minister, noted the following in his testimony:
"It was a special relationship. More than family, I would say. All the time together. I've always seen them together, I don't know of such a friendship between Fouad Ben-Eliezer, may his memory be blessed, and Roy Motsafi..." (Prov. p. 1606, s. 25).
See also in the same context the collection of joint photographs from the various events, from the decades of the relationship (P/15).
These are just a few examples of the clear data that was revealed to the court regarding the strength of the friendship relationship.
- Although it seems that the strength of the friendship was not in real dispute, I saw fit above some of the testimonies that were heard in relation to the unique nature of that friendship, since in this case, The fact that it was proven that this was a genuine friendship, which lasted for decades, supports and strengthens the defendant's version of the motive that underpinned the transfer of the funds to Ben-Eliezer.
The fact that the relationship began many years before it was claimed that the defendant held any economic interests in the State of Israel is also a relevant circumstance.