Sara Netanyahu Quizzed by Fraud Unit Over Household Spending Irregularities
Image by getty images
Israel’s first lady was questioned by the Israel Police fraud investigation unit over suspected spending irregularities at the prime minister’s residence.
Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was questioned Thursday afternoon, despite a request by her attorney to close the investigation.
She reportedly was asked to detail her involvement in the running of the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem and testify as to whether state funds were used to pay for workers in their private residence in Caesarea, according to Haaretz.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in February announced his recommendation of a preliminary investigation into allegations of overspending following the release of the comptroller’s report noting that expenditures at the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem “do not conform to standards of reason, proportionality, economical management and efficiency.”
Weinstein also took issue with expenditures at Caesarea home.
He ordered the probe be postponed until after last March’s national elections; the criminal investigation began in July.
Sara Netanyahu also is believed to have pocketed thousands of dollars from deposits on bottles paid for by the state.
She was sued in March 2014 by a family caregiver over claims that she was abusive and in 2010 by the family’s housekeeper for withholding wages and verbal abuse.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
