Sara Netanyahu tells Fox News ‘deep state’ trying to target her husband
PM’s wife claims radical elites backed by foreign interests are using courts and media to undermine democracy in Israel
Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has claimed a so-called “deep state” in Israel is working to undermine her husband, drawing lines to similar forces in the US she alleged have worked against President Donald Trump.
Appearing on Fox News’s “My View” with Lara Trump on Saturday, Netanyahu alleged that both leaders were being persecuted by what she described as “small radical left-wing elites funded by foreign countries and others” who “hold influential positions within key institutions.”
Lara Trump is the wife of Eric Trump, the president’s son.
“These people abuse the judicial system to try and overthrow a democratically elected government,” she said. “They don’t care if they’re undermining democracy or public trust.”
Drawing a direct comparison between the legal cases against Trump and those against the prime minister, she claimed: “They did the same ridiculous things to my husband and family, bringing ridiculous investigations and charges full of lies.”
“These cases are now collapsing in court because there’s no truth to them at all,” she claimed.
Netanyahu said her husband had even requested that his trial be televised but was refused, adding that “people are still watching the cases fall apart despite the deep state’s attempts.”
The prime minister is on trial in three corruption cases and faces accusations of trying to illicitly sway press coverage through benefits to media moguls, as well as of receiving gifts and benefits from billionaire benefactors.
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and claims without evidence that the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.
Sara Netanyahu criticized the media’s role, saying it had relentlessly targeted her family. “The media is so vicious, attacking us again and again and again,” she said.
Netanyahu very briefly addressed the issue of the 58 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, saying: “I live with the pain of the hostages and families every day. I am deeply involved. I meet with them often, and I embrace them, and hear them and support them.”
She said she had appealed to international figures for help in securing their release.
“I have written dozens of letters to the emir of Qatar’s mother, to the previous pope and to the wives of world leaders on this issue. I even wrote a letter together with five mothers of hostages,” she said.
This is not the first time that Sara Netanyahu has accused a supposed “deep state” of plotting against her husband while speaking to foreign media. In April, she made similar comments in an interview with right-wing Hungarian outlet Mandiner during a state visit to Hungary.
Prime Minister Netanyahu told opposition lawmakers at the Knesset in March that “Democracy isn’t in danger; the rule of bureaucrats is in danger. The deep state is in danger,” as he pushed back against allegations that his government is systematically undermining the rule of law.
He railed against a “small coterie of officials” who he alleged were working against the elected government.
Netanyahu tweeted in March that “in America and in Israel, when a strong right-wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s will.” He subsequently released a video expounding on the claims.
The couple’s eldest son, Yair Netanyahu, has also repeatedly made unsupported accusations against state apparatuses of engaging in coup attempts against his father.
The Times of Israel Community.