Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife are both facing potential charges, raising questions about the prime minister’s future
The threat of criminal indictment that has hung for months over Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, loomed much larger this weekend as it was announced that his wife, Sara, faced potential criminal charges.
Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said on Friday that he intended to indict Sara Netanyahu with fraudulently diverting some $100,000 from public funds. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
The case, one of a number of corruption investigations the couple face either jointly or separately, concerns allegations that the prime minister’s wife billed the state for excessive sums in running his official residence.
Mandelblit has taken the unusual step of allowing Sara Netanyahu a hearing to present her side of events before indictment – a concession normally reserved for public officials. Many observers assume she will ultimately get a plea deal to avoid jail time.
Benjamin Netanyahu quickly took to Facebook to call the draft indictment “absurd” and “baseless”, adding that his wife was “a brave and honest woman and has never done anything wrong … She spends a lot of time helping children with cancer, Holocaust survivors and lone soldiers.”
The charges are likely to strengthen suspicions against the Israeli prime minister as he tries to stave off four other corruption…