Israeli PM’s wife accused of fraud
Lavish lifestyle at centre of scandal
• Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to be indicted on fraud-related charges in a case that peers into spending on catered meals and lifestyle in the official residence, a statement by Israel’s attorney general said Friday.
The probe — called the “meals ordering affair” — alleges that the prime minister’s wife and the head of the operational resources unit in the official residence falsified documents so that food from outside companies and private chefs could be used, even though there was a fulltime chef.
The statement by the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said that Netanyahu is suspected of diverting some US$102,000 in public funds for this use.
Netanyahu was informed that she would be able to make final arguments in the case before the state attorney issues a possible indictment, which could lead to a trial.
No date has been set for such a hearing, however.
Both during Benjamin Netanyahu’s first term as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and since taking office in 2009, his wife has come under scrutiny for her perceived opulent lifestyle, often being portrayed by the local media as a kind of Marie Antoinette.
Last year, a former housekeeper at the official residence successfully sued the couple for abusive treatment, winning about US$43,735 in damages. During his testimony, Meni Naftali revealed intimate details about Sara Netanyahu’s lifestyle, including her taste for pink champagne and other luxuries.
In 2015, the state comptroller released a report showing excessive spending at the official residence at 2 Balfour Street in Jerusalem. It noted the Netanyahus had billed taxpayers for 92,781 shekels, or about US$24,000, for takeout food in 2011.
Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attorney general’s statement in a Facebook post, blaming the inflated spending on his former housekeeper, Naftali. He uploaded a bar chart, highlighting that the overspending “fell miraculously when he left.”
“Why did the expenses surge in these years? Who ate or took huge quantity of food, enough for a football team? Certainly not the Netanyahu family,” he wrote.
Netanyahu also referred to other investigations against his wife, including probes of the purchase of garden furniture and the hiring of an electrician who was also a family friend, which the attorney general said in his statement Friday have now been closed.
“This too will evaporate in the hearing,” Netanyahu wrote.
“Let the data speak for itself.”
In an earlier post on Facebook, Netanyahu called his wife a “courageous and honest woman who has never had any flaws in her actions.”
He also called Naftali a “serial liar.”