Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has warned the legal team representing Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that she will be indicted if they do not inform his office by the end of this week exactly how much money she is willing to repay in a series of cases involving spending irregularities at the Prime Minister's Residence.
The state alleges that Sara Netanyahu took more than 350,000 shekels ($98,000) of government money to pay for personal meals, falsely claiming that there was no state-funded cook at the residence.
She is suspected of colluding with the former deputy director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Ezra Saidoff, to create the false impression that there was no cook at the residence, allowing her to order meals from outside vendors.
Netanyahu's defense team met with Mendelblit at the beginning of May to discuss ways of keeping her from facing trial for alleged misuse of government funds. The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, which is handling the case, was also at the meeting.
The defense team has proposed that Netanyahu return a "significant sum," although still less than the amount the state is demanding, in exchange for the case against her being closed.
According to Channel 2, her defense team argued that the state has miscalculated the amount of money she allegedly owes.
