Image by Getty Images

Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want details of his dirty laundry aired in public – and he is suing his own office and Israel’s attorney general to try to prevent it.

Legal documents published on Tuesday showed that the prime minister, citing a right to privacy, is asking a Jerusalem court to overturn a decision to release his laundry bills and those of his family under the country’s Freedom of Information law.

Israeli media have focused in the past on food and beverage expenses at Netanyahu’s official and private homes. Three years ago, he drew flak over a $127,000 charge to fit a bedroom into a chartered plane for a flight to London to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The current case involves a request by The Movement for Freedom of Information, a group seeking greater public transparency in Israel, for details of all state-paid expenses in Netanyahu’s private home and official residence in 2014.

Netanyahu’s attorneys argue that the inclusion of laundry expenses would be tantamount to “peeping” into his private affairs, but Anat Revivo, who oversees compliance with the Freedom of Information law at the prime minister’s office, maintains that the public has a right to know.

When Revivo consulted Israel’s attorney-general on the matter, he agreed.

Netanyahu was given time to mount a legal challenge and on Monday filed a 27-page lawsuit against Revivo and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit.

In the petition, which the Movement for Freedom of Information posted on its website, Netanyahu’s lawyers cited Israel’s Protection of Privacy Law, as well as Britain’s Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights to support their case.

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks on his honor and reputation,” the lawsuit said, quoting from the European treaty.-Reuters

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

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.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount