Sara Netanyahu reportedly tells hostage families IDF chiefs want a coup against her husband; PMO dismisses report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, told families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza that Israel’s military leadership wants to overthrow him, according to a newspaper report.

“Sara Netanyahu charged in a closed-door meeting with hostage families that the army chiefs want to carry out a military coup against her husband,” the Haaretz daily reports.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office cited by Haaretz rejects the report out of hand, slamming the “false, trending and incessant leaks about Mrs. Netanyahu” as “a heinous injustice.”

According to Haaretz, the reported leaks came from a meeting Sara Netanyahu  held with a handful of relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, who were up in arms about her comments.

The premier’s wife clarified that her lack of confidence was in the military leadership rather than the IDF as a whole, but the hostage families were upset as their loved ones’ lives depend on the army, Haaretz reports.

The response from Netanyahu also says that the premier’s wife has been “working on her own initiative for the hostage families, the bereaved families… and all the circles of pain associated with this difficult war, and helps as much as she can.”

“Despite the voices that try to harm her… Mrs. Netanyahu will continue working for those who were harmed in the war and prays for the speedy return of all 120 hostages.”

It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.