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דיווח: שרה נתניהו טופלה בקיץ האחרון באגף הפסיכיאטרי בבית החולים הכללי של וינה
שרה נתניהו מאיימת להגיש נגדי תביעת דיבה בארה”ב, רק מפני שציטטתי דיווח עיתונאי על טיפול פסיכיאטרי שעברה בווינה
רעייתי שרה במסר חשוב לאור ההסתה ואיומי הרצח נגדי ונגד משפחתנו. צפו ושתפו pic.twitter.com/G2ZJlnti9h
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) July 30, 2020
Last summer, Sara Netanyahu disappeared from social media platforms she regularly uses to defend her husband, herself and her sons from the attacks of disgruntled Israelis tired of his corrupt rule. For several weeks, she wasn’t photographed or seen in Israel. Rumors began to swirl that she was ill, that she was hospitalized in a foreign country, etc.
Last March, the Bulgarian news site, Focus News Agency, published a story promoting the Austrian hospital chain AKH Wien, which planned to expand its facilities in Bulgaria. The report noted the number of celebrities and powerful politicians who sought out the hospital for medical treatment. Among them was, according to the article (Google Translate version), Sara Netanyahu:
The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sarah Ben-Artsi Netanyahu, underwent successful treatment in the hospital’s psychiatric ward last summer…
In late July, 2020 once the rumors began to swirl, Sara sent the PM’s digital media director to do media interviews saying the Sara was fine and that she would release a video soon to prove it. Indeed, that’s just what she did.
In it, she explained that her absence had been caused by pressing matters related to the end of her work year. As she is an educational psychologist, it’s possible she’s referring to clients who are coming to the end of a school year. But it’s unclear whether she still practices as a psychologist, whether she sees clients, etc. In other words, I strongly doubt any of this is true. That, of course increases the credibility of the Bulgarian report.
I’ve translated her video statement because it is a model of its kind, an exemplar of the extreme narcissism and megalomania for which she is infamous:
“Lately, I saw something terribly disturbing which they call “fake news,” and about this shaming they direct at my husband, and me, and my children. Even my youngest son was subjected to it.
My friends, shaming is something we’ve seen lately during the period in which we’ve had social media. We see many children harmed [by it]. I, as a psychologist, am acquainted with several instances of children, aged 15-16 who committed suicide. They did so because of the shaming their friends directed at them. It’s inexcusable for this to happen. So remember that I am a human being. My children are people, souls, all of us are people who feel pain, who experience such pain.
So I truly ask all sides to restrain themselves and not to issue calls to murder the prime minister and his family. Let’s take advantage of positive energy…Let’s make things so that it will be better for all of us.”
She is undoubtedly referring to the weekly anti-Bibi protests which swept the country in light of his corruption trial. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have demanded his resignation. Police have attacked some of the protests and injured individuals opposing him. A few hot-headed people did threaten Bibi. And given Sara’s reputation as the power behind the throne, there is a great deal of hostility toward her as well.
But clearly she is playing the victim card, trying to gin up sympathy from a country which hates her with a passion. Not to mention that they deliberately incite hatred against multiple sectors of Israeli society who oppose them. Is it any surprise that Israelis would respond in kind?
It’s important to make something clear. I have all the sympathy in the world for those suffering from mental health issues. This post is not meant to stigmatize them in any way. That being said, when it comes to running a country, leaders must be clear-headed and rational. It’s critical that their thinking not be impacted by distorted thought processes. We in this country have recently seen enough of this sort of delusional thinking in our political leadership.
Some Israelis object to Netanyahu’s personal medical history being fair game for journalists. To that I say, when you are a major public figure and the fate of your nation is in your hands and those of your husband, then all bets are off. Everything about your life is fair game since you are no longer the average person on the street.
Sara Netanyahu is not a typical politician’s wife. She does not sit in the background. She plays a key role in decision-making and personnel matters. She not only offers her opinion about crucial political appointments, she exercises her prerogatives aggressively. I’ve reported here on a number of military, political, and intelligence appointments which she rejected because she simply did not like or trust the candidate.
She is precisely the wrong person to be in such a position. Israel is beset by massive internal and external conflict. It faces life and death choices. Any single decision could conceivably lead to regional war or the complete breakdown of domestic social order. This is not the person you want sitting alongside the nation’s leader and impacting his decision-making process. She is a damaged person terribly close to power in a severely damaged country.
Sara Netanyahu response: Ofer Golan, who describes himself as “Netanyahu’s spokesperson” sent this legal threat in Sara’s name:
One big Fake News story from start to finish. This is low, discredited slander repeated time and time again by left-wing elements in Israel for political purposes. Even the attempt to use a far-left American blogger to spread lies will not prevent a libel suit against him in the United States.
I replied to him that I would welcome such a lawsuit in the US or anywhere. Lawyers will line up to defend me. It would permit my counsel to depose her and subpoena documents (including travel logs) that would confirm where she was during the weeks she disappeared from Israeli public view.
Not fair game Richard … I wish her well and a full recovery. For the PM and Sarah to keep it secretive is their personal choice. It would have been courageous to open up after her release from hospital. Too many citizens suffer from mental illness and face long treatment delays. Psychological and psychiatric treatment is a must in today’s society.
Many leading families face anguish, see Kennedy and Bidens. Some become president due to their psychological disorder and retire in Mar-y-Largo.
Thanks, Oui.
Some people love humanity, but hate people.
Curious.
@ Rev Washington: Some people claiming to be Black Jews really shill for Black Christian Zionists paid well for their efforts.
[comment deleted: read the comment rules. Comments must contain content, substance, and an argument. Snark does not substitute for any of these. Violate the rules again and you will be moderated.]
STFU! You talk too much rubbish. The woman is a narcissistic pig and her husband is a rogue dictator that mùst leave the Israeli political sphere! PERIOD!!!!
@ Coby: Easy on the 4 letter words. Oui’s been commenting here a long time. I agree with your general views about Sara, but no need to bash long time commenters.
Sara-Para is a nutcase. She should have been committed a long time ago! But instead she runs Israel because Biyuvi is smartut (=rag).
Bibi have armies of trolls, he’s been doing that for years. They work around the clock and its a sure thing that this site is on top of his list. Sadly its impossible to make a real conversation…
Completely disagree
Sarah Netanyahu as an unelected “politician” has used openly the power of her husbands position. The mental health of that level “politicians” in a state packet with agressivity and nuclear weapons can not be private matter.
Adelsons tell police Sara Netanyahu is ‘absolutely crazy’ — report
https://www.timesofisrael.com/adelsons-tell-police-sara-netanyahu-is-absolutely-crazy-report/
The entry on Sara Netanyahu appears between entries dated 1999 and 2004, and the list is chronological.
@ido: the article was published in March 2021 and clearly says she was a psychiatric patient “last summer.”
My two cents: I did not know she is a child psychologist. She must have a disconnect/conflict between political beliefs/ support of (or pushing) her husband’s politics regarding Palestinians these long years and what that does psychologically, the trauma on both sides, but especially the ongoing trauma on the Palestinian side, the children. As professional she should know. ow could she not know? They are not human? The tension alone between her allegiances and what she must know could make her crack. My guess, an anxiety disorder.
if only the hamas leadership were as concerned with the trauma of gaza’s children…
@ ock: Oh please. If only Bibi was concerned with anything but protecting his own ass. Then we would have 13 more Israelis and 240 more Palestinians alive.
BS, the israeli-arab conflict is 100 years old and stems from the unacceptance of the arabs to see jews on what they regard as their land. Add to that the inherently belligerent mentality of islamic culture. Nothing to do with any particular leader of israel.
@ Naftali: Thank you. Not for the content of your comment, which was vile. But for displaying here all the Islamophobia, and toxic racism characteristic of Israeli Jews. You are a know nothing. You know nothing about Palestinians, Arabs or Muslims. But the certainty of your righteousness is deeply repellant.
Thanks to you, we know what we’re up against.
[comment deleted: you clearly think the comment threads are the pro-Israel cheering section meant for promotion of Brand Israel. They are not. You are now moderated. Follow the comment rules and comments will be published. Don’t and they won’t.]
Richard, may I ask what makes YOU an expert on Arabs or Islam? Seems like your ideas are set in stone and oblivious to facts.
Agreed that most Muslims just want to live and let live. However who was it that beheaded hostages, kidnapped and raped school girls in Nigeria, kidnaped raped and killed Yazidi women in Iraq, murdered indiscriminately people in Paris, Nice and London (oops my mistake; the guys in Paris deserved to die for having committed blasphemy against the Prophet), destroyed thousands years old ancient sites in Syria and Iraq ?
@ Eli: I am going to moderate you for posting blatantly Islamophobic comments here, which is prohibited. Do not post such content in future.
But food for thought: how is radical Islam different from any bout of religious/tribal extremism throughout history from the Crusades to the Inquisition to the Israelite Biblical conquest. Those were horrendous frenzies of religious genocide by religions other than Islam. And such attacks and hatred continue to this day: Rohyngas in Burma, etc. Yet you, in yr infinite wisdom focus on Islam as the bete noire of world religions. Shame on you!
That Israel chooses no negotiation at this point, no Palestinian state ever and to rely on military might and technology (Iron Dome) to prevail over the entire land, gives lie to your assertion about who has the belligerent mentality and why the conflict today.
[comment deleted: read the comment rules. Comments must be on-topic: related directly to the post on which you’re commenting. This comment is off-topic.]
Ock- the trauma of Gaza’s children has been ongoing, through all the “mowings” for sure but even during quiet periods under siege.
she must be a terrible child psychologist…just that filthy supremacist son of hers and his rants on social media/in the courts says so much to me about how well she raised him
I don’t think her mental world fits together well.
No pity for that woman. I remember when she yelled like a mad at an aide on the telephone because her profession was not included in an article, when the poor guy says that her title ‘psychologist’ appears in the first sentence she screams totally out of her mind B.A., M.A. and you can hear that the guy is p*ssing his pants.
A lunatic married to another lunatic running an asylum.
You have no pity for a mentally ill person because she acted like a mentally ill person?
@ Rex: No pity for a mentally troubled person who is the 2nd most powerful figure in a country. Nor should we. Her influence on life & death decisions is pernicious and deeply dangerous.
Do you have any pity for all the civilians influenced by her power? or if a person is mentally ill, all his transgressions and destructive consequences disappear?
Breaking News: Netanyahu ousted from power!
Lapid and Bennett form a change (?) government.
In the text you cite from the video there’s absolutely no sign of “extreme narcissism and megalomania”. To clarify, I am referring just to this specific quote.
@ Amir Rahmani: So you’re saying Bibi is not a narcissist or magalomaniac? And saying that his political rivals will destroy the state if he’s not leading it is NOT narcissism and megalomania?? Really?
I was referring to, and only to, the text from her video that starts with the words “Lately, I saw”. I am not claiming that she or he are not narcissists or megalomaniacs.
Anyway, even saying that your political rivals will destroy the state if you’re not leading, regardless of how true or false it is, does not prove you’re a narcissist or megalomaniac. If Biden says (I don’t know whether he actually said) that had Trump been re-elected it would have been catastrophic for the country, that would’nt prove he was a narcissist or megalomaniac, either (no, I am not comparing Biden to Netanyahu or Trump to Netanyahu’s rivals, or the level of truth in both claims). Besides, I guess he was reffering to his current rivals, and didn’t mean that he will never have any rival capable of leading without destroying the country. In fact, saying that your rivals will desteoy the country is a negative saying about them, not a positive saying about yourself. Once again, I am not claiming that she or he are not narcissists or megalomaniacs, I am just saying that you can’t prove that with this specific saying. BTW, I voted for one of those rivals and I don’t regret it.
@ Amir: YOU voted for one of his Bibi’s rivals? And what, you want a medal for that?
Please don’t post any further comments in this thread. Any reasonable person understands Bibi is both a narcissist and megalomaniac. You can quibble all you like. I find this a total bore.
[comment deleted: you are banned]
Wow Richrad,
Finally we have a knight who protects Israel from it self.
You are on the same scale like Noam Chomsky and Yeshayahu Leibowitz…who, although being Jews, are not afraid to be moral voices.
Very well written, Richard! Couldn’t agree more with every word
Sorry I’m late to this particular party, but I didn’t read this story about Sarah’s tsuriss till today, June 16. What got me to read it was a phone conversation I just finished with my cousin in Israel who told me the widely known “rumor” in Israel is that Sarah is in a psychiatric hospital in Vienna. I told him I had seen a headline on this website with that information. He informed me no Israeli media is willing to break that story. He added that the story was not officially censored, but informally, out of personal consideration for the ex first family. I asked him if HaOlam Hazeh, Uri Avneri’s magazine was still around? They definitely would have broken that story. He said no, they don’t have media like that anymore in Israel. Friends, that is the forest. Sarah’s secret hospitalization is just another tree.