Witness in PM’s trial says probe should be opened into Sara Netanyahu for allegedly orchestrating harassment of rivals

A key witness in one of the corruption cases against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggests that an investigation should be opened following this week’s “Uvda” investigative report revealing that the premier’s wife Sara Netanyahu was apparently behind a coordinated social media campaign to attack those perceived as enemies of the family.

“Uvda” published text messages showing how Sara Netanyahu ordered the premier’s chief of staff Hanni Bleiweiss to smear the prime minister’s political rivals, asking her to look up “traitor, loser” ex-Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar’s “skeletons of sexual harassment reports in the closet”; publicize the “treasons, the trips to Russia and Belarus” of Moldova-born Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman; and tell supporters of Aryeh Deri and Yaakov Litzman what “traitors” the ultra-Orthodox leaders are, given their perceived alliance with former justice minister Ayelet Shaked, an arch-nemesis of the premier’s wife.

Still more vitriol was reportedly reserved for leading figures in the corruption cases against Benjamin Netanyahu: prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari, who oversaw the investigations; former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who served the premier’s indictments; and Hadas Klein, former secretary to Netanyahu benefactor Arnon Milchan, and a key witness in the case alleging Netanyahu illicitly received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cigars, champagne and jewelry — much of it allegedly at Sara Netanyahu’s request.

The “scoundrel” Klein, Sara Netanyahu reportedly wrote to Bleiweiss, had “smeared us for years, lied, slandered.” Language similar to Netanyahu’s message featured soon thereafter in social media posts against Klein, “Uvda” said.

Following the report, National Unity Chair Benny Gantz tweeted that the prime minister should apologize, particularly for sending Likud activists to protest outside the home of the parents of a fallen military pilot, who had been active in demonstrations against the premier.

“Benny, Are you for real,” Klein responds on X, blasting him for not taking a harder line against the Netanyahus.

“I expected that someone who sees himself as a leader and seeks to lead the country would come out in defense of its citizens and demand that an investigation be opened. Not to ask for a weak apology,” Klein says.

“It would have been better had you not written anything at all,” she adds.