Sara Netanyahu indictment won’t include 'Caesarea furniture' allegation

According to the allegations, Mrs. Netanyahu purchased garden furniture for the Prime Minister’s Residence and moved it to the Netanyahus’ private residence in Caesarea.

By UDI SHAHAM
Sara Netanyahu (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Sara Netanyahu
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
An expected indictment against Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s spouse, will not include the “Caesarea furniture” allegation, Channel 10 reported on Tuesday night.
According to the allegations, Mrs. Netanyahu purchased garden furniture for the Prime Minister’s Residence and moved it to the Netanyahus’ private residence in Caesarea.
On Monday, it was reported that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to indict Sara Netanyahu for diverting public money for private use.
She is suspected of fraud and breach of trust related to misuse of public funds to meet her private housekeeping expenses. It is estimated that the three felonies of which she is suspected cost hundreds of thousands of shekels in state funds.
The first offense of which she is suspected is privately employing an electrician who did not win a tender to work at the Prime Minister’s Residence and covering his work expenses with state funds. The second is improper use of state funds for her late father’s medical care. The third is exaggerating meal expenses at the residence.
Police suspect that NIS 11,000 worth of food was ordered for the Prime Minister’s Residence, even though receipts say the food was intended for the Prime Minister’s Office, Channel 10 reported on Monday. This kind of action is forbidden because the Prime Minister’s Residence has a chef, and outside food is not supposed to be ordered and paid for with state funds.
The Netanyahu family issued the following response on Monday: “Yair Netanyahu [their older son] is vegetarian, Avner [the younger son] and Mrs. Netanyahu almost never eat meat, and the prime minister does not consume food worth thousands of shekels from a steak house. It would be interesting to find out the caretaker’s role in these orders from 2011.”