Sara Netanyahu to appeal court ruling in favor of ex-employee

Lawyers for Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that she would appeal a Jerusalem Labor Court ruling in favor of a former employee of the Prime Minister’s Residence who successfully sued the state over mistreatment at her hands.

“Mrs. Netanyahu was not a defendant in the case, so she did not have an opportunity to express her side of the story or present witnesses of her own,” the Netanyahus’ lawyers said in a statement Thursday. “The court’s ruling has caused her great damage, and she has been unfairly maligned.”

The court on Wednesday awarded Menny Naftali NIS 170,000 compensation (about $43,735) for years of mistreatment he suffered while working at the Jerusalem residence, and also ruled he had been misled over his terms of employment at the residence.

The court ruled that “numerous testimonies presented to the court point to an atmosphere of harmful work conditions at the residence due to the behavior of Mrs. Netanyahu and her attitude toward the workers. These included irrational demands, insults, humiliation and outbursts of rage.”

After studying the verdict, Sara Netanyahu’s lawyers recommended that the prime minister’s wife appeal, giving her a chance to present her own documents and witnesses regarding the affair.

The Netanyahu family earlier Thursday criticized the verdict, saying that “the picture drawn by the court is far from reality.”

“Menny Naftali did not sue Sara Netanyahu, but the State of Israel,” said the family in a statement. “Even so, his lawsuit involved defaming Mrs. Netanyahu without giving her a chance to retort.”

“I knew I’d win,” Naftali said following the ruling. “The amount of compensation does not matter to me because I am in much bigger debt than this sentence, but this is just the beginning for me. I am waiting for the libel suits concerning anyone who spoke against me. To me this is just a small victory along the way.”