"We are not your enemy," Netanyahu appealed to the "people of Iran" worldwide on Instagram next to an image of showing Israeli and Iranian lion embracing. The choice of the lion appears to convey a reference to the symbol of the Shah-era Iran as well as Israel's name for the military campaign it launched on June 13 to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities: Operation Rising Lion.

The image itself shows two lions sitting side by side, wrapped respectively in the flags of Israel and the old imperial flag of Iran (featuring the Lion and Sun emblem), gazing into a sunset. The visual and caption convey a message of solidarity and a distinction between the Iranian people and their government.

 

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A post shared by Sara Netanyahu (@sara.netanyahu)

"To the people of Iran – As my husband, Prime Minister Netanyahu, often says: You, the people of Iran, are heirs to a magnificent culture,
a talented and accomplished nation with a rich history," she wrote. "We are not your enemy. Our fight is with the tyrannical regime that oppresses you,
not with you. We believe in a future of peace, freedom, and friendship between our peoples. "

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran until 1979, when the fundamentalist ayatollah regime staged the Islamic Revolution. His son, Reza Pahlavi has been recognized by many Iranians as the exiled king. Pahlavi has called on the world to help usher in a new era in Iran by toppling the ayatollahs, led by 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, vowing to lead a transition to democracy once the rulers in Tehran are gone.

The two lions in Netanyahu's post appear sitting side by side, wrapped respectively in the flags of Israel and the old imperial flag of Iran (featuring the Lion and Sun emblem that is in the Iranian flag from before 1979), gazing into a sunset.

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Former President Donald Trump held talks with Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a private dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where they discussed the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

President @realDonaldTrump and Sara Netanyahu having dinner at Trump International Golf Course tonight pic.twitter.com/ZqN5ZqWNdd

— Margo Martin (@margomartin) December 2, 2024

Trump's communications director, Margo Martin, shared an image of the former president and the prime minister's wife on X during their dinner meeting.

Sara Netanyahu was in Miami visiting her son Yair, who has primarily resided abroad for the past two years.

In an Instagram post following the meeting, Sara Netanyahu detailed their discussion: "I raised with the president the great suffering our nation endured on October 7, and Hamas's inhumanity in holding our kidnapped citizens under harsh conditions. I emphasized the urgent need to act for their release and swift return. We also discussed the strategic importance of Israel's victory in the war against the axis of evil."

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A computer system in use by the Likud Party crashed on Election Day, harming the party headquarters' work and reportedly costing Likud at least two seats that could have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the 61 he needs to form a government, was over seen by Guy Benartzi, who is the nephew of Netanyahu's wife, Sara.

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Benartzi comes from the startup sector and co-founded Bancor, a company that deals with virtual currency.

Likud officials who were working with the system said the crash comprised a problem of unusual scope. These officials claimed that a few days before the March 23 election, the system had been tested, during which a number of problems were discovered. However, they said, because the person responsible for it was Netanyahu's nephew, officials were hesitant to express their concerns.

One Likud official involved in the computer failure told Israel Hayom that "Benartzi and his partners were responsible for the crash. They espoused pulling out of the Elector app and setting up a completely separate system. A few days before the election, they tested the system – and it crashed."

Other Likud officials confirmed that the system had been tested before March 23 and had worked, with the exception of minor problems "that they told us would be fixed."

These officials said that on the morning of Election Day "there was heavy use and the computer system was operating at 50% capacity until the afternoon. After that, everything worked perfectly."

According to the Likud, the system reported 3.2 million votes for Likud on Election Day, out of a potential 4 million Likud voters, a "knowledge gap" of some 800,000 votes that could in theory have secured more seats for the party.

Apart from the computer issues, sources in the Likud said that the drop in the party's number of seats since the March 2020 election occurred due to the Likud "donating" to Religious Zionist Party list leader Bezalel Smotrich by refraining from public attacked on him, and that other seats had moved from Netanyahu to Gideon Sa'ar and Naftali Benentt.

In recent days, the Likud party leadership has been asking for a probe into the system failure. No such probe has yet been approved.

When approached about the computer problem, the Likud responded in a statement that the party does not comment on campaign activity. "However, we will clarify that despite the claims, all the Likud oversight systems were operating successfully on Election Day," the party said.

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Under the agreement, a fraud charge was reduced to a lesser offense. Netanyahu also agreed to pay the state 45,000 shekels ($12,500) in reimbursement and a 10,000 shekel ($2,800) fine.

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According to the original indictment, Netanyahu, along with a government employee, fraudulently obtained from the state hundreds of meals supplied by restaurants, at an estimated cost of more than $100,000, essentially bypassing regulations that prohibit such a practice if a cook is employed at the Prime Minister's Residence.

As part of the revised indictment that was submitted to the court earlier this month, the fraud charge was dropped. Instead, Netanyahu was charged with intentionally exploiting another person's mishandling of state money for her own benefit.

Netanyahu's supporters, including her husband the prime minister, have said that her conduct was not criminal and claimed that even if funds were improperly used, she was not in charge of bookkeeping at the Prime Minister's Residence and hence should not be held accountable.

Her lawyer Yossi Cohen repeated those claims after the court hearing on Sunday, saying the entire case was a "product of ugly and defamatory leaks that were designed to besmirch my client."

"Do you understand what you admitted to?" the judge asked Netanyahu, 60, at the court hearing.

"Yes, I do," she replied, and the judge proceeded to ratify the deal.

In explaining the plea agreement to the court, prosecutors cited Netanyahu's clean record, the public humiliation she has suffered as a result of the case and the time that has passed – up to nine years – since the alleged actions were committed.

The government employee charged along with Netanyahu also reached an agreement with the prosecution and was fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800).

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The two-day delay stirred speculation that she might renege on the deal and continue with the trial, but now that she has signed the deal, a revised indictment will be filed.

If the court approves the deal, Netanyahu will pay the state 45,000 shekels ($12,000) in reimbursement and a 10,000-shekel ($2,800) fine while admitting a lesser charge.

According to the original indictment, Sara Netanyahu, along with a government employee, fraudulently obtained from the state hundreds of meals supplied by restaurants, with a total value of some $100,000, bypassing regulations that prohibit the practice if a cook is employed at home.

Prosecutors said Netanyahu abused an administrative error that allowed her to obtain the meals without charge, essentially defrauding the state in collusion with others.

The deal was reached in a six-month-long mediation process and will go into effect after it is ratified by a judge.

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Under the agreement, she will pay the state 45,000 shekels ($12,400) in reimbursement and a 10,000-shekel fine while admitting a lesser charge.

According to the original indictment, Sara Netanyahu, along with a government employee, fraudulently obtained from the state more than $100,000 for hundreds of meals supplied by restaurants, bypassing regulations that prohibit the practice if a cook is employed at the prime minister's residence.

The deal was reached in a six-month-long mediation process and will go into effect after it is ratified by a judge, the radio reported.

A spokesman for the Netanyahu family declined to comment. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.

The prime minister is embroiled in legal woes of his own – three corruption cases in which he has denied wrongdoing – and a political crisis that could force him to call for a new national election.

In February, Israel's attorney general said he intended to file fraud and bribery charges against Benjamin Netanyahu, pending a pre-trial hearing. That session is set for October.

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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.

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