Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife, Sara Netanyahu, gave testimony in the lawsuit against Sylvie Gancia, a former employee at the Prime Minister's residence, in the Jerusalem Labor Court on Monday.
About two weeks ago, Gancia described on the witness stand at the Jerusalem Regional Labor Court the relationship between her and the Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife, Sara. The lawsuit also refers to the company that employed her as a cleaning worker at the prime minister's residence in Balfour.
Sara Netanyahu claimed at the beginning of the hearing that her back hurts, so she is being questioned at the meeting.
Attorney Shimshon, who represents Gancia: "Did you prepare for this hearing?"
Sara Netanyahu: "I talked, but I see this question as endless probing."
Attorney Shimshon: "Who drafted your affidavit?"
Sara Netanyahu: "Many years ago with my lawyer."
Attorney Shimshon: "What is written there is your personal knowledge?"
Sara Netanyahu: "It was many years ago. I don't remember in detail. A lot of things were said about me. "
Attorney Shimshon: "Silby's affidavit was submitted in 2021. Have you read it? There is evidence here, such as WhatsApp messages and recordings."
Sara Netanyahu: "Did she come with a statement that she recorded us?"
Attorney Shimshon: "There is a huge amount of evidence in her affidavit. But your affidavit only refers to the indictment. Why didn't you address all the claims in her affidavit and all the evidence?"
Sara Netanyahu: "I didn't read the affidavit. There is not a single word of truth in what she said. She repeated the claims of another employee."
Attorney Shimshon: "Did you see the evidence in the affidavit?"
Sara Netanyahu: "There is no evidence in her affidavit."
'Trying to find out the truth'
Sara Netanyahu: "I was not her employer, I did not give her a salary, I was not tied to her salary terms. As soon as she made a commitment to the place where she worked to maintain confidentiality and privacy, she violated it. She should not go and tell about the flights, the robes, etc., this is the height of intimacy of our lives that she talked aboutת and it is immoral in my opinion. "
Attorney Shimshon: "I did not ask what morality is in your opinion."
Sara Netanyahu: "He treats me disrespectfully. The private life of the prime minister and his family is her job. Our private things. As soon as she talks about every detail and, of course, lies, she is talking about our private lives. This is a breach of commitment and a violation of privacy."
Attorney Shimshon: "How did her commitment to maintain confidentiality reach you?"
Sara Netanyahu: "It reached me after the lawsuit was filed."
Attorney Shimshon: "Does the fact that Sylvie complained and told the media how you treated her.."
Netanyahu interrupts him: "You're talking to the media. You've been doing this for six years. "
President Breuner Isharzada: "We're trying to find out the truth here."
Sara Netanyahu: "If it weren't for me, it wouldn't have happened."
Attorney Shimshon: "Does what she said, that you yelled at her, called her stupid and retarded, that she's a 5-year-old girl, constitute a violation of her obligation to maintain confidentiality and privacy?"
'Mrs. Netanyahu, do you sometimes get angry?'
To the question of whether the fact that she complained about Netanyahu's treatment of her constitutes a violation of confidentiality and privacy, Netanyahu replies: "Not a word of what she said is true. Telling lies about a person is a violation of privacy, a whitewashing of identity."
Attorney Shimshon: "She claimed that an iron was waved at her."
Sara Netanyahu: "Everything is a lie. And telling lies is a violation of privacy here. And the problem is twofold, both the very fact that it is being talked about and the lies."
Attorney Shimshon: "Do you sometimes get angry?"Are you angry about your facts?"
Sara Netanyahu: "What does this have to do with it?"
The President of the Court: "Miss, answer the question.
Attorney Shimshon: "How is this expressed?"
Sara Netanyahu: "I have lived with this claim for thirty years, and since then, they have been copying and pasting. Anyone who wants money and publicity knows that it's possible on Sara Netanyahu's back. When there were allegations about Meirav Michaeli's behavior towards her employees in the Knesset, they didn't make a story out of it because she's not Sarah Netanyahu. I've been working for this country for many years, and I don't deserve it. Even today, some children need me."
Attorney Shimshon: "I'm asking how your anger is expressed in light of the descriptions in the lawsuit."
Sarah Netanyahu: "I didn't have any expression of anger towards her. She worked with someone who was her equal, I went to work, I hardly had any contact with her. She's an inventor."
Attorney Shimshon: "How often were you angry at the employees or at Sylvie?"
Sarah Netanyahu: "I don't remember there being any contact. I barely saw her."I try not to get angry about facts because I know it will go to the media."
Attorney Shimshon: "Did your anger have a physical expression?"
Sara Netanyahu: "It's a lie, and not just any lie. It's a vicious lie. The media has been slaughtering me for 30 years, it won't become the truth."
Additional allegations
Among other things, Gancia said that she was required to come to work with three sets of clothes and shoes, which she was asked to change dozens of times a day, she said, every time she changed assignments. She also described how she was forbidden to walk on the first floor of the Prime Minister's residence with one of the three pairs of shoes she brought, but had to change into a fourth, clean pair of shoes.
In a lawsuit filed against Netanyahu and the human resources company that employed her, Gancia is demanding compensation for harassment at work by Netanyahu, in the amount of 650,000 shekels. In her testimony last month, Gancia recounted numerous alleged incidents, including how Netanyahu humiliated her, called her stupid and dumb, threw a coat hanger at her, and more.
In addition, Gancia described how employees were forbidden from touching the railing when going down the stairs so as not to leave fingerprints. She added that Sara Netanyahu sent her several times to buy special tights for her, with her own money, instead of the ones she allegedly ruined, and how once when she washed clothes for Yair Netanyahu, and one of the shirts got dyed, Sara Netanyahu screamed at her and demanded that she pay for the damage.
"She got stressed, and screamed at me that I was stupid and rubbish and didn't know how to work," Gancia said, adding: "The lady would tell me every day, every minute, every second, that I was stupid and stupid."
Sara Netanyahu denied the claim that Sylvie was forced to write a letter of apology. "I have no idea. I was told that she begged to come back. If she was so bad, why did she come back? Why didn't she go?" she said. "I didn't ask anyone to write a letter. What I do know is that everything I heard from her is a lie."
