TEL AVIV, Israel (news agencies) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his long-running trial on corruption charges. But long before these accusations emerged, Netanyahu has been vexed by a flurry of embarrassing scandals and allegations.
Netanyahu consistently and vehemently denies wrongdoing and has assailed investigations into his conduct or that of his family as witch hunts driven by a hostile media and a biased justice system.
Here’s a look at some of the scandals that have beset Netanyahu, his family and his aides since he began to dominate Israel’s political scene.
Close confidants of Netanyahu are suspected of receiving bribes to advance a deal to purchase submarines and other warships from Germany. Netanyahu is not a suspect in that case. But a state commission of inquiry looking into the affair earlier this year sent a letter to the prime minister warning him that he could be harmed by its conclusions.
The committee did not detail the precise accusations against Netanyahu, but painted a picture of improper decision-making at multiple levels in government, the defense establishment and the military. He denies wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for the Israeli leader has been charged with leaking classified information to German tabloid “Bild” that indictments alleged harmed Israel’s wartime security and interests. Netanyahu himself has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Critics say the leak was meant to sway public opinion to be more in favor of Netanyahu’s negotiating positions with Hamas, and diminish public pressure on him to reach a deal to release hostages held by the militants. Another Netanyahu aide is being investigated for doctoring documents, a move critics say was meant to protect Netanyahu from future investigations into his wartime conduct.
In 2016, an official expense report revealed that Netanyahu spent more than $600,000 of public funds on a six-day trip to New York, including $1,600 on a personal hairdresser. Three years earlier, he was criticized for spending $127,000 in public funds for a special sleeping cabin on a five-hour flight to London. Netanyahu contended he was unaware of the cost and halted the practice. He also was forced to stop purchasing ice cream from an artisanal Jerusalem parlor after news erupted that his office ran up a $2,700 bill for his favorite flavors, vanilla and pistachio.
His wife, Sara, has also been charged with misusing some $100,000 in public funds to order lavish meals from celebrity chefs at the prime minister’s official residence, even though she already had cooks on the government payroll. She agreed to pay $15,000 for misusing state funds as part of a plea deal.
Allegations also mounted against the Netanyahus for using government money to purchase furniture for their private beach house and to cover the medical expenses of Sara Netanyahu’s late father. The attorney general ultimately dismissed the allegations.
Netanyahu was suspected of double billing travel expenses and using state funds to cover personal travel in the 2000s, while he was finance minister and opposition leader. After a drawn-out investigation, the attorney general dismissed the case.
Netanyahu’s household staff has repeatedly accused Sara Netanyahu of explosive tirades and mistreatment.
During Netanyahu’s first stint as prime minister, the family’s nanny said she was fired by Netanyahu’s wife for burning a pot of vegetable soup. The young woman said she was thrown out of the family’s home without her clothes or passport, and later was ordered to pick up her belongings dumped outside the front gate. Netanyahu’s office said the woman was fired because she was prone to violent outbursts.
Two household aides have won damages in lawsuits accusing Sara Netanyahu of abusive conduct. In 2016, a Jerusalem court awarded one domestic worker over $42,000 in damages. Netanyahu and his wife have both rejected the accusations. In 2018, a recorded phone conversation surfaced of the prime minister’s wife screaming at her publicist about how a gossip column omitted mention of her educational credentials.
In 2018, a recording surfaced of Netanyahu’s eldest son, Yair, joyriding with his super-rich buddies to Tel Aviv strip clubs in a drunken night out in a taxpayer-funded government vehicle. He later apologized.
The 33-year-old Netanyahu has also sparked controversy for lewd and offensive social media posts over the years, such as his publishing a caricature that drew on classic antisemitic tropes. Facebook briefly suspended his account after he wrote he would prefer an Israel without any Muslims.
Back in the 1990s, rumors circulated that a videotape existed depicting Netanyahu and his image consultant, a married woman named Ruth Bar, in “compromising romantic situations.” In response, Netanyahu went on television and confessed to adultery, even though the tape never turned up.
During his first term in office in the 1990s, Netanyahu was suspected of appointing a crony as attorney general in exchange for political support from the ultra-religious Shas party. Prosecutors called Netanyahu’s conduct “puzzling” but ultimately closed the case, citing lack of evidence.
During that same spell in office, Netanyahu and his wife were suspected of pocketing gifts and foreign contributions received from world leaders — items considered state property. The Netanyahus also were suspected of accepting favors from a contractor. Both cases were closed without charges.
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