Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara used to harangue Miriam Adelson, wife of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, whenever the Adelson-controlled Israel Hayom daily wrote what she believed to be unflattering articles about her husband.
According to leaked transcripts from her interview with the Israel Police, Miriam Adelson said Sara Netanyahu would call her up and yell at her for minutes at a time when she felt the couple “wasn’t defending them” sufficiently.
“She once told me that if Iran gets nuclear weapons and Israel is wiped out it’ll be my fault because I didn’t protect Bibi,” Miriam Adeslson is quoted as saying by Channel 13.
American billionaire businessman Sheldon Adelson (R) and his wife Miriam meet Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu, at the International Conference Centre in Jerusalem, May 13, 2008. (Anna Kaplan /FLASH90/ File)
Miriam Adelson was questioned in Case 2000, which involves suspicions that Benjamin Netanyahu agreed with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes to weaken Israel Hayom in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth. The prime minister faces charges of fraud and breach of trust pending an October hearing in that case.
This and other reported readouts from her interrogation has revealed the extent to which both the prime minister and his wife were involved in Israel Hayom’s content each day.
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