Israeli court affirms lawmaker Oren Hazan used drugs, procured prostitutes at Bulgaria casino

Marcy Oster

Israeli lawmaker Oren Hazan laughing at a Knesset committee meeting in Jerusalem, Oct. 26, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Israeli lawmaker Oren Hazan laughing at a Knesset committee meeting in Jerusalem, Oct. 26, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli court rejected most of a libel lawsuit filed by Likud lawmaker Oren Hazan against Israel Channel 2, saying that the Knesset member used hard  drugs and procured prostitutes while serving as a casino manager in Bulgaria.

The court did award Hazan more than $10,000 for what it called false claims that Hazan also acted as a drug dealer for his casino clients.

He had sought more than $260,000 in damages from the report, most of which the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court called “responsible, serious journalism and reflected the reality as it was.”

The Channel 2 report by reporter Amit Segal aired in June 2015 was titled “Prostitutes, drugs and the deputy speaker of the Knesset.” The report cited Israeli tourists who said they did the drugs with Hazan at the casino and his former driver, who said he went on Hazan’s behalf to a local strip club to hire prostitutes. It also interviewed the manager of the strip club, who confirmed that Hazan sent for women; she laughed when she heard Hazan had become an Israeli lawmaker.

Allegations against Hazan during his freshman year in Knesset run the gamut from drugs to sexual assault to bigotry.

Hazan is the son for former Likud lawmaker Yehiel Hazan, who was convicted of forgery, fraud and breach of trust after double-voting in the Knesset in 2003 and then trying to cover it up. He was sentenced to four months of community service and received a six-month suspended prison term.

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