Israel’s attorney general orders probe into Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of witness harassment

Eugenia Yosef and Mohammed Tawfeeq

Israel (CNN) — Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has ordered an investigation into Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a report alleged that she had harassed opponents.

“An investigation should be opened into suspicions of witness harassment and obstruction of justice regarding the findings of the Uvda show,” which aired on Israel-based Channel 12 television last week, Israel’s attorney general said in a statement on Thursday.

On Thursday, Channel 12 released an investigation alleging that Sara Netanyahu was intimidating a witness in her husband’s criminal trial.

The report also alleges that she had indirectly harassed the attorney general and the deputy state attorney.

CNN has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.

Hours before the investigation was ordered, Prime Minister Netanyahu defended his wife in a video speech released by his office on Thursday where he described the Channel 12 report as “biased” and “false propaganda.”

He went on to say: “I would like to see Channel 12 or the other incitement channels conduct an investigation about the left-wing camp. But don’t count on it. It simply won’t happen.”

Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin criticized the attorney general’s order, describing it as “extreme selective enforcement has reared its ugly head once again.”

“While Israeli citizens expect that anyone who threatened the police commissioner or called for defiance will be summoned for questioning, the advisor [AG] and the state attorney are busy opening investigations following gossip on television,” Levin said in a post on X on Thursday.

The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also criticized Baharav-Miara. “Someone who persecutes government ministers and their families politically cannot continue to serve as the Attorney General – it is a shame that there are still those who bury their heads in the sand and refuse to understand this,” he said in a statement.

Netanyahu’s corruption trial first began in January 2020, making him the first sitting Israeli prime minister to appear in court as a defendant on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the allegations against him and has pled not guilty, Reuters previously reported.

He faces charges in three separate cases. In Case 1000, he is charged with fraud and breach of trust in connection with allegations that he received gifts like cigars and champagne from overseas businessmen.

In Case 2000, he is also charged with fraud and breach of trust and is accused of seeking favorable coverage in one of Israel’s top newspapers in exchange for limiting the circulation of one of the paper’s main rivals.

In the most serious case, Case 4000, he is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly advancing regulatory benefits worth the equivalent of more than $250 million at the time to his friend Shaul Elovitch, who was the controlling shareholder for the telecommunications company Bezeq.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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