Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara has signed a plea deal with state prosecutors in a fraud case against her, and will play a fine of NIS 55,000 ($15,000) to state coffers, but will not admit to fraud.
Netanyahu was charged last year with misusing some $100,000 in funds on catered meals at the Prime Minister’s Residence while there was a full-time chef on staff.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara, center, sits in a courtroom in Jerusalem, on October 7, 2018. (Amit Shabi, Yedioth Ahronoth, Pool via AP)
As part of the deal she will admit to intentionally making use of another’s error, but will not admit to defrauding the state. Prosecutors had originally sought to indict the premier’s wife for fraud.
Ezra Saidoff, a former caretaker at the Prime Minister’s Residence who also faced charges in the case, will make a similar plea, pay a fine of NIS 10,000 ($2,700) and do community service.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
