Sara Netanyahu violated coronavirus restrictions before Sukkot, report reveals
Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, violated coronavirus lockdown restrictions when she invited a hairdresser to the prime minister’s official residence for a styling, Yediot Aharonot said on Wednesday.
The visit took place on the eve of Sukkot, and violated Health Ministry guidelines, which prohibit visiting another person’s house for purposes not specified within the rules.
A source close to Sara Netanyahu denied she had broken the rules: “Mrs. Sara Netanyahu makes sure to closely follow the Health Ministry’s guidelines,”
the source said.
There were justified circumstances to call in a hairdresser, the source said.
“Before Sukkot, Sara participated in a public service video where she called on the public to begin wearing masks.... As she is a public figure and it was a public service video, she assumed she could use the hairdresser’s services, as is customary when appearing on TV. Mrs. Netanyahu and the hairdresser wore both a mask and gloves while in the same room, and she even asked him to avoid conversation as a cautionary measure,” the source said.
“She has not left her house during the lockdowns, and continues working as a child psychologist through phone and Zoom calls. [ Sara] Netanyahu ensures that everyone in her house wears a mask at all times, including employees. She has kept to these rules both on Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, and during Yom Kippur she prayed at the street near her house,” the source said.
“Anyone visiting the Prime Minister’s Residence knows that Mrs. Netanyahu not only wears a mask herself, but asks everyone to do so, and that is the message she wanted to give the public as well,” the source continued.
Unlike the prime minister, who, as a state figure, is entitled to such hairdressing services because he makes official public appearances, his wife does not hold an official public role and is not exempt from the ministry guidelines.