New Bribery Scandal Centers On Fraud Case Against Sara Netanyahu
Bibi and Sara Netanyahu. Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A former spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of offering to make a judge attorney general if she agreed to close a case against the Israeli prime minister’s wife.
The suspected bribe was first reported Tuesday morning by reporter Ben Caspit of the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Maariv.
Caspit reported that Nir Hefetz, who served as media adviser to Netanyahu for three years starting in 2014, made the offer to Hila Gerstel, who has since retired from being a judge. Israel Police confirmed the suspected bribe without naming names. Gerstel has testified about the incident as a witness in another corruption case.
Gerstel said she turned down the offer and was “deeply shocked” by it, Maariv reported. It is not known if she turned to police at the time to tell them about it.
Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit told the Israeli media on Tuesday that he did not receive a similar offer before being tapped for the post in February 2016.
Sara Netanyahu is accused of using public funds for personal expenses, including hiring an electrician who was a member of the Likud party Central Committee to do work on the prime minister’s residence without offering a tender for the work and purchasing furniture that purportedly was bought for the official residence in Jerusalem and then moving it to the Netanyahus’ private residence in Caesarea.
Hefetz reportedly was arrested on Sunday in connection with Case 4000, a corruption case that involves Israel’s telecommunications giant Bezeq and the prime minister.
Mandleblit informed Sara Netanyahu in September that she would be indicted for fraud pending a hearing that has not yet taken place.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.