Israeli police are conducting a criminal investigation into Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the state attorney’s office said in a letter made public on Sunday.
"A criminal investigation was opened" into suspected criminal offenses, the office said in a letter to an Israeli opposition lawmaker who had accused Sara Netanyahu of interfering in her husband’s corruption trial after a television news investigation was broadcast in December.
Naama Lazimi, a Knesset member from the Democrats, shared the letter on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, confirming that the criminal investigation was launched on December 26. She added that her office had contacted the state attorney following the investigation by Israeli Channel 12’s Uvda news program.
The show alleged that Sara Netanyahu had attempted to intimidate a key witness in her husband’s ongoing corruption trial.
It also claimed that she organized demonstrations to harass the Attorney General, his deputy, and other individuals considered hostile to her husband, according to the program.
The state attorney’s office added that the investigation was being "conducted by the Israel Police, accompanied by the cyber department of the state attorney’s office."
In December, Benjamin Netanyahu testified in the corruption trial, in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of public trust in three separate cases, calling the charges against him "ridiculous."
The trial, which has been delayed multiple times since it first began in May 2020, is scheduled to last for months, with an appeals process that could further prolong the proceedings.
Netanyahu, who has filed multiple requests to delay the trial due to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
In the first case, Netanyahu and his wife are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including cigars, jewelry, and champagne, from billionaires in exchange for political favors.
He is the first sitting prime minister in Israel to face a criminal trial.
With AFP
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