Sara Netanyahu ‘keeps Berlin-TA flight waiting’
El Al passengers say they were delayed on tarmac as PM’s wife ‘wrapped up her business’ at end of official ministerial visit; PMO denies report
Passengers on an El Al flight from Berlin to Tel Aviv last week were forced to wait on the tarmac for the the prime minister’s wife “to wrap up her business,” the Hebrew-language Maariv news website reported Friday.
The incident allegedly occurred at the close of a diplomatic visit to Germany by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a government delegation.
According to the report, Mrs. Netanyahu’s presence on the official visit had already had a rocky start, as she had refused to fly to or from Germany on the same plane as Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
Shaked — who reportedly resigned from a position in Benjamin Netanyhau’s office in 2008 because of conflicts with his wife — agreed to travel on a commercial airliner instead of joining the delegation of ministers aboard the official flight, the report said.
The Prime Minister’s Office on Friday flatly denied the claims. Without providing further details, the PMO told Maariv that “no such incident occurred.”
Allegations of boorish behavior by Sara Netanyahu are frequently covered by the Hebrew-language media, which often reports on the Netanyahus’ lavish lifestyle, including outsize expenses charged to state coffers, and has also portrayed first lady as a difficult person who wields disproportionate influence over her husband.
Friday’s allegations came days after the National Labor Court in Jerusalem ruled in favor of Sara Netanyahu’s ex-employee Meni Naftali, who claimed he was mistreated by the first lady while employed at the Prime Minister’s Residence. The judge awarded him damages of NIS 170,000.
On Thursday, Sara Netanyahu filed an appeal to the court seeking to overturn the court-ordered compensation.
In a separate incident, Sara Netanayhu last month was questioned for a second time by the police’s high-profile crimes unit over alleged spending irregularities at the prime minister’s official and private residences, some of which came to light based on Naftali’s testimony.
The investigation was launched at the recommendation of State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, after allegations were raised in a February 2015 report by State Comptroller Yosef Shapira that detailed wasteful spending by Netanyahu and his wife at their official residence in Jerusalem and private home in Caesarea. The report also alleged possible criminal misdeeds, raised questions about the use of public funds, which were spent on — among other things — the upkeep of the Netanyahus’ pool at their private home.
The report also noted that the prime minister’s official Jerusalem residence operated for years without an audited budget.
