JERUSALEM -- Israel gave the royal treatment to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Thursday with a high-profile lunch and meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just before he was awarded the prestigious Genesis Prize, known as the "Jewish Nobel.''
The feting and gala ceremony in his honor in Jerusalem offered Kraft a welcome reprieve just four months after he was charged with soliciting a prostitute at a Florida massage parlor. The 78-year-old billionaire businessman has vigorously battled the charges, and the case against him appears to be crumbling. He has pleaded innocent but also issued a written apology, expressing sorrow for hurting his family, friends and fans.