Sara Netanyahu sues for 300,000 shekels: "Intrusion into her intimate living space"
A week after a former Prime Minister's residence employee sued her for workplace bullying, Sara Netanyahu responded with a defamation lawsuit for 300,000 shekels. She claims he filmed in the residence illegally, violated a confidentiality agreement, and disseminated false claims to harm her.
The Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, filed a defamation lawsuit today, Thursday, against Yechiel Ohav-Ami, who previously served as an operations assistant at the Prime Minister's residence. The lawsuit, filed through attorney Uriel Hor-Nizri, was submitted to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court and includes a demand for 300,000 shekels in compensation, alongside requests for injunctions and the publication of a formal denial.
The move comes just a week after Ohav-Ami filed a lawsuit against the Prime Minister's Office, in which he also demanded 300,000 shekels in compensation, claiming that during his employment he suffered from severe bullying by Sara Netanyahu, which ultimately led to his dismissal.
In the statement of claim, Netanyahu argues that from his very first days at the residence, Ohav-Ami began to document and film inside the house illegally, violating the confidentiality agreement he had signed. According to her, this is a "predatory intrusion into her intimate living space," unauthorized filming inside a secured government facility, and the collection of information used, she claims, for the purposes of "attacking and blackmailing." It is further alleged that after he was fired and his request to return to work was rejected, he embarked on a pre-planned "revenge campaign."
Netanyahu rejects in the lawsuit, one by one, the claims raised against her by Ohav-Ami in his statement of claim and in an interview he gave to Channel 12 News. According to her, these are "absolute lies" and baseless "blood libels." Among other things, she denies claims that she used physical violence, forced him to perform unusual "cleaning rituals," demanded that he wash cutlery repeatedly, or forced him to carry suitcases in an unusual manner. She also denies claims that she rummaged through trash cans, wished him to get cancer, or spoke offensively towards him or his son.
It is further alleged in the lawsuit that Ohav-Ami provided journalists with information, documents, and photographs from within the residence, thereby violating the confidentiality agreement and infringing on her privacy. Netanyahu claims this conduct was intended to create "media and financial blackmail" and asks the court to prohibit him from making any further use of the materials in his possession.
On the other hand, in the lawsuit he filed last week, Ohav-Ami claimed that he performed his duties with dedication and professionalism, but throughout his employment he suffered from severe bullying by Sara Netanyahu, backed by his managers. He further claimed that he was fired without substantive cause after he "fell out of favor" with the Prime Minister's wife. The Prime Minister's Office rejected the claims at the time, stating that the employee was fired after failing in his duties.
