Roni Maane to Nir Hefetz: "You are lying, she abused you. You sold your soul to the devil"

Businessman Roni Maane, one of the Prime Minister's harshest critics, recently made headlines following an interview he gave to Lucy Aharish on her program "Sichat HaYom" on Channel 13. During the interview, Maane addressed the testimony of a former employee at the Prime Minister's residence, which was exposed on Channel 12 by journalist Omri Maniv.

Recall that the Prime Minister's wife is at the center of a legal storm after a former employee at the residence filed a lawsuit in the Jerusalem Regional Labor Court against the Prime Minister's Office. This person is demanding compensation of 300,000 shekels and raises a series of allegations of bullying by Sara Netanyahu during his employment, while the Prime Minister's Office rejects these claims.

In a tweet published on his X account, Maane addressed the words of media consultant Nir Hefetz, who held a series of positions in the "Yedioth Ahronoth" group as well as spokesperson and public relations roles for the Prime Minister and the "Likud" party. As is known, he signed a state witness agreement as part of the "Case 4000" investigation.

In an interview with Ofira Assayag, Barak Seri, and Eli Ohana on Channel 12, Hefetz claimed: "I never heard Sara raise her voice at an employee or say a racist remark. From 2009 to 2018, she yelled at me only once when I brought Ben Caspit for an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. She called on the phone and was very, very angry. I didn't see what is being described, but I heard testimonies from employees." He presented similar claims on "Galey Israel" and in the program "Dibburim Kmo Chol".

Roni Maane expressed anger toward the veteran media consultant and wrote: "I am a very close friend of Nir Hefetz, very close. I am really disappointed in him because he is lying. To me, he told stories days and nights about her, he recorded her. He has a recording studio about her. The very fact that he is being interviewed by "Galey Israel" says it all. Nir, aren't you ashamed? Don't you have any honor? She abused you. Yelled at you. Nir, you sold your soul to the devil. You told me shocking and hair-raising stories about how Benjamin Netanyahu trembles before her. Where is your conscience? Nir, you are making a mockery of yourself."

Maane also wrote to Nir Hefetz: "You told me she is a psychiatrist. An abnormal crazy person. I am in shock, how can you say there is a good marriage? Have you gone crazy? Did you lose your memory? Benjamin Netanyahu will be defeated, and you became a joke in one day, it's a pity."

Response from the Prime Minister's Office regarding the article published on Channel 12: "The Prime Minister's Office completely rejects the baseless claims raised in the article. This is a domestic worker who worked for a short time at the Prime Minister's residence and was fired after failing in his duties. He vented his frustration in a statement of claim full of lies. This is another attempt in a long-standing industry of extorting money from the state through empty defamation by employees against the Prime Minister's Office and against the Prime Minister's wife. Only recently, Mrs. Netanyahu won once again in court against an employee who was forced by the judge to pay compensation to Mrs. Netanyahu."

The office added: "The employee was fired in an orderly process for professional reasons only, including poor performance, repeated mistakes, and difficulties in cooperating with other employees. The employee raised his current claims only after he was fired and after his request to return to work was refused. The office is convinced that the facts will be clarified within the framework of the legal process, where a detailed response will be given to each of his claims."