Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife questioned on expenses

Sara Netanyahu, wife of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has been questioned under caution by Israel police's fraud squad on suspicion she used state funds for family expenses.

The police investigation was launched after Israel’s state comptroller determined that the Netanyahu family’s use of funds raised criminal suspicions and amounted to an ethical violation. His report found that Mrs Netanyahu ordered the expenses of their private home in Caesarea to be paid for by the state while attempting to represent the expenditure as being for the official prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

The Netanyahu family denied the suspicions attributed to Mrs Netanyahu and said in response that “the claims against the prime minister’s wife are baseless and imaginary, and this will be clearly proven”.

Vilification claims

Mrs Netanyahu blamed the hostile media for constantly vilifying her as part of a campaign to damage her husband.

“The nation sees the truth, despite the media reports,” she told Channel 2 television. “The pre-election campaign was very difficult for my husband and me. [The media campaign] focused on me, as if nothing else existed. Recently, also, the media has not been too kind to me.”

Some elements of the Israeli media dub the Netanyahus the “royal couple”, highlighting examples of lavish spending, such as ice cream and sushi ordered at taxpayers’ expense, for the prime minister’s residence. The media also claim that Sara wields enormous power over her husband, who never takes an important political decision without first consulting her.

The police investigation focuses on three main affairs: the electrician Avi Fahima, the garden furniture and the salary of the caretaker for Mrs Netanyahu’s late father.

In the case of Mr Fahima, who was a central committee member of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party with close ties to the Netanyahu couple, the prime minister's wife is suspected of hiring him illegally to do work in their private villa in Caesarea, at taxpayers' expense.

In the garden furniture affair, she is suspected of having purchased furniture for the official home of the prime minister in Jerusalem, but moving it to Caesarea. The fraud squad detectives also want to ascertain whether the expenses for nursing Mrs Netanyahu’s late father, who lived in the official residence in Jerusalem, were paid for by public money.

There are also suspicions she gave orders to inflate the number of people who attended dinners that she hosted in the residence and over whether she submitted fictitious receipts.

Another issue involves her allegedly pocketing large sums from deposits received when bottles used at the prime minister’s residence were returned.

Father’s nursing

Mrs Netanyahu claims that the money spent on her father, including for his caretaker, came from her and her father’s private funds

Two former employees at the prime minister’s residence, as well as Meni Naftali, who worked as a caretaker at the residence, submitted testimonies. The latter provided testimony only after he was assured it would not be used against him.