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Accusations span decades
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence has been the focus of renewed allegations against his wife, Sara Netanyahu, after Yedioth Ahronoth revealed testimonies and lawsuits stretching for more than a quarter of a century about staff mistreatment.
“The latest cases highlight the lawsuit of employee Yehiel Ohav Ami”
A complaint described by Middle East Online says a 61-year-old employee, Yehiel Ohav Ami, worked at the Prime Minister’s Office over the past year and alleged he was subjected to shouting, curses, and insults, including being asked to clean the kitchen floor while crawling on the floor.
The same employee added that Sara Netanyahu wished him illness and death, and the Prime Minister’s Office rejected the account as another attempt to obtain monetary compensation through tarnishing the reputation of the Prime Minister’s wife.
In parallel, the Jerusalem Regional Labor Court awarded compensation of 170,000 shekels in February 2016 in a case involving Minnie Natali, with the ruling finding abusive working conditions linked, according to the ruling, to Sara Netanyahu’s conduct toward the staff.
The dispute over the pattern of conduct continues as the latest chapter includes a claim that Sara Netanyahu threw pieces of tomatoes and olives toward an employee while preparing breakfast, with the incident described as occurring in front of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Denials and counterclaims
Sara Netanyahu and her lawyers have denied the accusations over the years, describing them as part of media campaigns targeting her and attempts to obtain money from the state, while the Prime Minister’s Office rejected the latest claims as an effort to extort money from the state.
In the account published by Al-Jazira Net, the Prime Minister’s Office denied the allegations, calling them “another attempt within a scheme to extort money from the state by smearing the Prime Minister’s wife,” while Sara Netanyahu filed a lawsuit accusing the employee of filming the residence illegally and violating privacy.
The same report says the employee alleged Sara Netanyahu told him: “I am the number one psychologist in the country, and I have no rival,” after diagnosing his condition as autism herself.
Lebanon Debate describes a different framing of the dispute, saying Sara Netanyahu denies all the accusations and insists that what is happening is nothing more than an organized campaign against her and her husband for political and media reasons.
In that same Lebanon Debate account, the Likud party emphasized that she has spent more than 26 years working in the field of psychology and child care, as the question remains in Israel over whether the testimonies show a recurring pattern or a coordinated campaign.
Courts, settlements, and stakes
The legal record described across the reports includes both rulings and outcomes that ended without judicial confirmation, including secret settlements and dismissals for lack of sufficient evidence.
“obliging the Prime Minister’s Office to pay about 900,000 shekels”
Al-Jazira Net says the Labour Court ruled in 2024 in favor of three former staff members, obliging the Prime Minister’s Office to pay about 900,000 shekels for violations of labor rights, including non-payment of overtime and working on Saturdays and holidays.
The same report adds that the case of 2020 involved worker Selvi Ginsia, who said an iron was thrown at her, but “the court did not decide the veracity of this incident,” and the suit was later dismissed for lack of required arguments.
In the Middle East Online account, the tomatoes-and-olives allegation ended with a secret settlement with the manpower company in which the employee received tens of thousands of shekels, “without a judicial ruling confirming the incident actually occurred.”
Across the accounts, the stakes described include how the Prime Minister’s Office manages staff rights and how the accumulated cases remain part of an ongoing public debate, with one report noting the residence is “sought by the International Criminal Court” while the other describes the file as a continuing Israeli controversy.