Netanyahu’s popularity undamaged by accusations against his wife

Jun 18, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, filed a civil suit against Sylvie Genesia, a former housekeeper at the prime minister’s residence. She is demanding 200,000 Israeli shekels ($58,000) for invasion of privacy, violation of contract and slander. The suit was filed just two days, on June 16, after the media released a series of embarrassing recordings in which Genesia and another employee at Netanyahu’s residence discuss the disturbing behavior of Sara and her son Yair.

Genesia is yet another addition to a seemingly endless list of former employees at the prime minister’s residence who engaged in or are currently engaged in highly publicized legal disputes with Sara. Though they claim that she humiliated and abused them, they have also shared some shocking descriptions of what really goes on at the residence. Stories such as these surrounding the Netanyahus have been on the public’s radar in Israel since Netanyahu’s first term in office (1996-1999). In 1997, Tanya Shaw, the nanny of his two sons who were three and five at the time, sued Sara for her humiliating attitude and unlawful termination. The stories have been coming nonstop since then, reaching record levels in the last few years. Sara is in and out of court, and in many cases, has filed countersuits. Most of these employees describe the prime minister himself as treating them well. Sometimes, they say, he will even calm his wife down, when she goes off on a rant.

The most recent scandal featured conversations that Genesia recorded. On June 14, Channel 13 released tapes that consisted of conversations between Genesia and another employee at the official residence. In these recordings, the two women can be heard complaining about unusual events and problematic treatment by both Sara and Yair. Sara and her son are called all sorts of harsh names on the tapes. “She’s really angry now. She’s just evil. That woman is evil and unbalanced. … Every day, she has a hissy fit,” Genesia complained. Later in the recording, the other employee describes how she threw out some of the prime minister’s shirts, because they got ruined in the wash, and that she was worried about what Sara would do to her. As for Yair, she said, “He used to put his socks in the refrigerator, and I would get yelled at for it.”

The uproar in the media was inevitable. Netanyahu took time off from dealing with annexation and the coronavirus crisis to release a video clip ridiculing the report and the journalist who covered it, while supporting his wife. After so many lawsuits and legal battles, and after all the disturbing stories about Sara, Netanyahu is not concerned about the electoral damage that this could cause him. On the contrary, Genesia’s story was still in the headlines when another poll predicted that Netanyahu would win an election if it was held today. With Netanyahu at the helm, the Likud party would soar to 41 seats.

While Netanyahu was busy with his video clip, the family’s lawyers went to the media to complain that this was all part of a coordinated campaign by the housekeeper and her lawyer. The lawyers said that the secret recordings were edited, that they had been recorded over months and that the housekeeper was a “plant,” sent to the prime minister’s residence to harm him and his family.