New allegations of spending irregularities by Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have come to light through a newly released recording of a conversation in 2010 between Nir Hefetz – a former spokesman for the prime minister who has turned state's witness – and Shlomit Barnea-Farago, the legal adviser for the Prime Minister's Residence, Hadashot News reported Sunday.
In the recording, Hefetz is heard telling Barnea-Farago that Sara Netanyahu would take loads of dirty laundry with her on official visits to have it dry-cleaned abroad.
Hefetz tells Barnea-Pargo that former chief of staff at the Prime Minister's Office Gil Shefer told him that on one trip, Sara Netanyahu packed eight suitcases full of dirty laundry to be cleaned abroad.
"You need to understand, there's a budget for dry cleaning that isn't really limited. Based on what Shefer says, she [Netanyahu] just likes the scent," Hefetz says.
Barnea-Farago described the dry-cleaning as a "misuse of public funds – bringing laundry that wasn't used there [on the trip] simply to have it dry-cleaned."
A representative of the prime minister said in response: "We haven't heard such a pack of lies."
