Probe against Sara Netanyahu for harassing witness in corruption case

After allegations that Sara Netanyahu is harassing a witness in the Israeli Prime Minister’s corruption trial and his political opponents, Attorney General of Israel has asked Police to open an investigation

Tel Aviv: After allegations that Sara Netanyahu is harassing a witness in the Israeli Prime Minister’s corruption trial and his political opponents, Attorney General of Israel has asked Police to open an investigation.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara made the announcement on Thursday, saying the investigation would focus on the findings of a recent report by the Uvda investigation into Sara Netanyahu.

The probe uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages in which Sara Netanyahu appears to instruct a former aide to organize protests against political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial.

The announcement did not mention Sara Netanyahu by name, and the Justice Ministry declined to make any further comment, according to Euronews.

The allegations against Sara that led to the AG ordering open investigation against her came as Tel Aviv District Court restarted the corruption trial against Benjamin Netanyahu which was suspended because of the ongoing Gaza war.

The Uvda report obtained correspondence between Sara Netanyahu and Hanni Bleiweiss, a former aide to the prime minister who died of cancer last year.

The messages indicated that Sara Netanyahu, through Bleiweiss, encouraged police to crack down violently on anti-government protesters and ordered Bleiweiss to organise protests against her husband's critics.

She also told Bleiweiss to get activists in Netanyahu's Likud party to publish attacks on Klein.

Klein is an aide to billionaire Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and has testified in the corruption case about her role in delivering tens of thousands of dollars worth of champagne, cigars and gifts to Netanyahu for her boss, Euronews reported.

Sara Netanyahu has been accused of abusive behaviour toward her personal staff before. This, together with accusations of excessive spending and using public money for her own extravagant personal tastes, has earned her an image as being out of touch with everyday Israelis.

In 2019, she was fined for misusing state funds.

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