Sara Netanyahu should admit 'hairdressergate' was staged - opinion

The Israeli public is not so gullible as to fall for the Netanyahus' manipulative games.

 Israeli Prime Minister and head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote, together with his wife Sara Netanyahu at a voting station in Jerusalem, during the Knesset Elections, on March 23, 2021. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/POOL)
Israeli Prime Minister and head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote, together with his wife Sara Netanyahu at a voting station in Jerusalem, during the Knesset Elections, on March 23, 2021.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/POOL)

Who’d have thought something as mundane as getting your hair done could cause such a stir?

Some of us (me, for example) get it done every so often, maybe three times a year, when it needs a good cut. The rest of the time we do it ourselves, adding our own color too if we’ve reached a certain age. 

Others go more frequently, not trusting themselves to be able to get the color right, or else they have something requiring a certain expertise, like highlights which undoubtedly need maintenance. 

The luckiest of all are those who go for a weekly do - a wash and blow with a head massage thrown in for good luck.

The importance of hairdressers 

Covid taught us all a lesson about hairdressers and their importance. Those of us who tried to cut our own hair (or as in my case, got a friend to do it for them) were given a salutary lesson or two. 

 Police officers stand guard while Israelis demonstrate against Prime Minister's wife Sara Netanyahu, outside a hair salon in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
Police officers stand guard while Israelis demonstrate against Prime Minister's wife Sara Netanyahu, outside a hair salon in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)

It’s not as easy as it looks, and a good haircut can’t be underestimated. 

That said, no one could sensibly argue that it’s something so important that it can’t be rearranged or even skipped on the odd occasion when the need arises. 

That’s why I’m finding it nigh on impossible to comprehend why Sara Netanyahu felt the need to get her hair done at a particular salon in Tel Aviv on the very day when the city was turned on its head by protests. 

Who in her right mind would do such a thing? I asked myself. 

It would have to be someone who was: 

  1. Totally oblivious to what was going on in the country at the time. Someone who had no connection to the outside world. An ultra-orthodox new mother maybe, with very little time on her hands and no smartphone or telly to keep abreast of the latest developments. Sara does not fit this description, in any view. As our ‘First Lady’ she will have been well aware of the situation in Israel.  
  2. Someone who knew about the situation, but didn’t realize how bad it was. Again not Sara. With her husband as PM and his advisers at her disposal, she could easily have sought advice from them. Failing that, she only had to switch on the telly or check the Jerusalem Post app to see what was going on. 
  3. Someone who knew about the situation, but didn’t care. She had to get her hair done (I can sympathize as I have to go over my roots every fortnight these days) as her roots were appalling and her last attempt at doing it herself was a total failure, ending in dye stains all over her hands, not to mention the bathroom floor. 
  4. Someone who saw it as an opportunity to advance her husband’s cause by diverting attention away from the meaningful protests which were getting too much credence as far as she, her husband and their lackeys were concerned. Turning up at the hairdresser (instead of him coming to you, as is, I am reliably informed, usually the case) in the middle of Tel Aviv with all the fanfare which accompanies you as you travel, is bound to cause a stir. To do so in the midst of the largest demos this country has ever seen is, on any view, foolhardy.  Unless of course, it was planned.

We aren't this gullible

Do this woman and her husband really think the Israeli public is so gullible as to fall for their manipulative games?

I for one smelt a rat as soon as I read about it. 

As I mentioned above, no one in her position could have been so stupid as to inadvertently put herself in such an unfortunate situation. 

Come on Sara - we all know it was staged. Admit it, so we can turn our attention to the important stuff, like trying to save our country from becoming a fascist dictatorship, rather than hairdresser-gate . 

You owe us that much, at least.