Former overseer of PM residence files suit against Netanyahu family

Ex-employee file suit for NIS 1 million in latest of string of former employees alleging unkind treatment, among other offenses.

By HERB KEINON
The Netanyahus (photo credit: REUTERS)
The Netanyahus
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The former chief overseer of the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem filed suit Wednesday in Jerusalem Labor Court against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara for alleged labor misconduct.
Channel 2 reported that Manny Naftali, who was first employed as a bodyguard to Sara and then promoted to become the overseer of the residence, sued the couple for NIS 1 million in damages.
Naftali joins a list of other former employees who, after leaving their positions, have alleged of unkind, capricious and nasty treatment.
Naftali alleged in the suit that the couple did not “fulfill their obligations” to him and did not pay sufficient overtime. He chronicled a number of incidents where Sara behaved poorly, such as waking him up at 3 a.m. to complain that someone bought milk in a bag, rather than in a carton. Another time, he claimed, she was unhappy that there were wilting flowers in a vase, saying that would never happen in the Élysée Palace, and she threw the flowers on the floor.
Asked in a recent interview about what it signified that so many former employees complained about working for the couple, the prime minister replied that all it meant was that the media was “trigger happy” in dealing with these issues. He added that it is all too happy to give disgruntled workers a platform to air their grievances.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded by calling the allegations “evil gossip” that violated the couple’s privacy and were aimed at defaming them and extracting money.