Netanyahu lashes out at media after release of wife's recordings

"If you want to replace me, do so at the ballot box. Leave my family alone."

By TAMAR BEN-OZER
Updated: JANUARY 29, 2018 08:56
Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu (photo credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)
Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu
(photo credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video on his Facebook page on Monday morning in which he lashed out at the Israeli media and public for their reaction to the recordings of his wife Sara Netanyahu that were released Sunday afternoon.
"What's on the tape?" He asked rhetorically. "Sara, raising her voice angrily, in a secretly recorded conversation."
"I want to ask you, in the last nine years, has any one of you raised his or her voice angrily?" Netanyahu asked the public. "Perhaps some journalists, too, have done that? I'm sure you've all raised your voice."
Netanyahu went on to say that the media trampled on his family's basic right to privacy. He also accused the media of discriminating against him and his family, and of doing so for money and fame.
"I want to say to all the recorders, the distributors and the various broadcasters: shame on you," he continued, and proceeded to label the media's actions as "slander" against him and his family.
"If you want to replace me, do so at the ballot box. Leave my family alone."
In 2009, Sara Netanyahu was recorded screaming at an aide over a newspaper column that neglected to include her status as a psychologist. The recording was released on Israeli media on January 28 and ignited storms of public ridicule and criticism against her.
Two weeks ago the Netanyahu family was involved in an additional public scandal when recordings of the prime minister's son, Yair Netanyahu, were released, in which Yair made disparaging comments about women and alluded to his father helping his friend's father, gas tycoon Kobi Maimon, make a 20 billion dollar gas deal.