Netanyahu blasts new allegations that wife Sara was cruel employer

A former employee of the prime minister's residence claimed that Mrs. Netanyahu had a brutal set of demands with which all household staff members must comply,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L) (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L)
(photo credit: REUTERS)

The prime minister took to social media on Friday in defense of his wife, who was once again the target of complaint by a former cleaner at the prime minister’s residence.

The cleaner claimed that Sara Netanyahu and her son Yair treated her in an appalling manner.
“Stop it. Same method, same lies, same newspaper and same lawyer,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page. “No one buys this worn exercise. Everyone understands that they found a method to discredit the Netanyahu family and extort money from the country.
Employed a few days, quitting and nearly a quarter of a million shekels. A lucrative deal!” Channel 10 reported on Friday that a lawsuit had been submitted against Sara Netanyahu, this time by a young ultra-Orthodox woman who does not follow the general media and so was unaware of similar previous complaints.
The woman claimed that Netanyahu had a brutal set of demands with which all household staff members must comply, and alleged that a failure to do so would cause her to raise her voice and terrorize them.
The complaint went on that Netanyahu strongly believed that she and her family members must be kept as far away as possible from “germs and diseases” that other people might bring into the residence.
In the lawsuit, it is alleged that it was forbidden to eat or drink during the workday in the prime minister’s residence, and workers under Netanyahu’s supervision were told to wash their hands dozens of times a day to prevent “their germs” from spreading.
According to the complaint, Yair Netanyahu, who lives in the residence, took part in cleaning inspections and would goad his mother into anger directed at the cleaning staff.
The haredi woman also claimed that Netanyahu accused her of stealing a pair of shoes and was about to physically assault her when she fled from the house in early October.
On Facebook, the prime minister called the allegations a “blackmail attempt” and an “absurd, false claim.”
“A employee who worked only a few days... is trying to blackmail us for NIS 225,000 and get easy publicity and money, and defame Mrs. Netanyahu.
There is no end to the persecution. There is no end to the lies, and there is no end to the character assassination.”
He also said that several Saturdays, Rosh Hashana, and the eve and holiday of Yom Kippur were included in the period of the lawsuit, days on which the plaintiff was not at the prime minister’s residence.
“I mean, there are only a few days left in which the plaintiff could see Mrs. Netanyahu,” he wrote. “The time she spent with Mrs. Netanyahu is shorter than her lawsuit.”
Sara Netanyahu has faced similar charges in the past, and was also indicted for illegally using public funds for private purposes. Yair has been accused of treating a fellow dog walker badly when she pointed out to him he forgot to pick up after his dog.