Allegations and investigations at the top

From Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara to his former chief of staff Gil Sheffer, to an as-of-yet-unnamed member of the Jewish Home party, to former general Ofek Buchris — reports on criminal allegations, investigations and suspicions are everywhere this weekend in Israel’s major Hebrew-language newspapers.

Yedioth Ahronoth focuses most of its coverage on Sara Netanyahu, who was questioned by the police’s anti-corruption unit for over 11 hours on Thursday over alleged financial irregularities at the Prime Minister’s Residence, including suspicions of receiving goods under false pretenses, falsifying documents and breach of trust.

The daily, which has a long history of animosity toward the prime minister’s wife, leads with an unflattering photo of her, taken moments after she left the Lod headquarters of the Lahav 433 unit at 1 a.m. The paper’s report on the interrogation itself is pretty bare-bones, but Yedioth’s writers make a point to tie the affair to the questioning of Gil Sheffer, who held the top post in the prime minister’s bureau from May 2012 to July 2013. Sheffer was ordered on Thursday to five days’ house arrest following a month-long investigation into suspicions that he committed sexual offenses. According to a police source quoted by Yedioth, Sheffer is also suspected of misusing state funds on behalf of Sara Netanyahu.

Haaretz delves deeper into the disturbing sexual allegations against Sheffer, noting that the 47-year-old former official is suspected of touching and attempting to kiss a woman he met at a conference against her will, intoxicating her with alcohol and preventing her from leaving an apartment he took her to. The allegations against Sheffer came amid reports of a previous sexual harassment claim against him dating back some 15 years. He has denied all allegations, and his associates say the probe is intended to pressure him into testifying against Netanyahu and his wife in other cases, including the aforementioned suspicions of financial irregularities at the Prime Minister’s Residence.

Israel Hayom, devotedly playing its part as the prime minister’s unofficial watchdog, veers clear of mentioning Sara Netanyahu anywhere on its front page, but does note that Sheffer is under investigation. Quite a bit of attention is given by the daily to former IDF general Ofek Buchris, who is on trial over charges of rape and sexual assault. The paper leads with a quote from a plaintiff who laments that Buchris “did not even have the magnanimity to ask for forgiveness.”

Buchris, who is currently involved in negotiations to reach a plea deal with the IDF’s Chief Military Prosecution, released a letter on Thursday in which he tersely admitted to having committed sexual offenses. The letter was released amid reports that in exchange for admitting to certain sexual offenses, prosecutors will drop the charges of rape and sexual assault against the former commander. Israel Hayom reports that social media has been abuzz with memes concerning Buchris’s plea deal, as thousands of individuals recall punishments they received in the army for minor offenses — such as forgetting to polish their boots or drinking chocolate milk without permission at the mess hall — with each post signed with the words “#More than [the punishment] Buchris [received].”

All three papers also report on the allegations against a Knesset member from the Jewish Home party who has been accused of sexual assault. According to Hebrew media, the MK, whose name remains unpublished due to a police gag order, was called in by Jewish Home party head Naftali Bennett for a conversation. The unnamed Jewish Home MK has so far vehemently refuted the allegations against him, calling the claims “a wicked attempt to harm me.” This is not the first time the Jewish Home party has faced allegations of sexual harassment by its lawmakers. In November 2015, former MK Yinon Magal resigned from the Knesset over sexual assault claims. In February, the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office announced that it had halted the probe into Magal after police said they had not found enough evidence to recommend an indictment.

And finally, after last week’s nightmarish wildfires, the country receives a much needed rain storm, and the media makes sure to squeeze every last drop out of their weather reports. Photos of raincoated children stomping in puddles and grownups fighting their umbrellas are featured prominently, almost proudly, in both Israel Hayom and Yedioth Ahronoth, as if to signal that the danger posed by the blazes has gone and passed for good. “Winter is finally here, like clockwork,” Yedioth concludes.