A former housekeeper who has filed a lawsuit accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife of abusing now says that she received a threatening phone call after filing a lawsuit.
Lillian Peretz, who worked as the Netanyahu family housekeeper in their beachside home in the town of Caesaria for six years, claims Sara Netanyahu verbally abused her and forced her to change clothes and shower several times a day in order to keep a “sterile” environment. The suit also alleges Peretz was paid less than minimum wage and was forced to work on the Sabbath even though she is an observant Jew.
The saga took another twist Jan. 19 when Peretz submitted a complaint to police claiming that she had received a threatening phone call since filing the lawsuit. Peretz, 44, told Israel’s Channel 2 that the call constituted a death threat.
“I was very scared. I got a call from an unidentified man, who said, ‘If you don’t end this whole thing in 12 hours, you will be harmed personally. This comes from Bibi,’” she said.
“I’m frightened, I’m frightened for my children,” she added. “This whole thing has been taken out of proportion. I never imagined it would get to this.”
The first scandal to hit Netanyahu’s year-old administration has rekindled memories of the domestic distractions that clouded his tumultuous first term in office a decade ago. On Jan. 15, Yediot Achronot splashed on its front page a headline quoting the housekeeper as saying, “Sara abused me, humiliated and exploited me.” — jpost.com & ap