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Netanyahu’s Wife May Have Violated Lockdown with Haircut

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu are seen during the Israeli parliamentary elections at a polling station in Jerusalem, March 2, 2020. Atef Safadi/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu are seen during the Israeli parliamentary elections at a polling station in Jerusalem, March 2, 2020. Atef Safadi/Pool via REUTERS
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Netanyahu’s Wife May Have Violated Lockdown with Haircut

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu are seen during the Israeli parliamentary elections at a polling station in Jerusalem, March 2, 2020. Atef Safadi/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu are seen during the Israeli parliamentary elections at a polling station in Jerusalem, March 2, 2020. Atef Safadi/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife may have violated the country's coronavirus lockdown by inviting a hairdresser into the official residence last week to prepare her for a public service video advocating the wearing of masks.

The Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that Sara Netanyahu had a hairdresser visit on the eve of the festive Sukkot holiday. Hair salons and barber shops are closed as part of a nationwide lockdown imposed last month, and people have been ordered to remain within 1,000 meters (yards) of home except for essential activities, The Associated Press reported.

An official statement released in response to the news report said Sara was strictly abiding by all the coronavirus regulations, including sheltering at home and enforcing the wearing of masks at the official residence.

As a public figure making an informational video, she believed she was entitled to employ the services of the hairstylist, the statement said. It added that they both wore masks and gloves during the appointment and that she asked the stylist to refrain from making conversation.

The newspaper said that while the prime minister is entitled to such services as a public servant, his wife is not. An ordinary Israeli would pay a 500-shekel ($150) fine for violating the restriction.

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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN

The Taliban said Thursday it was absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination and other human rights violations, as four countries vow to hold Afghanistan’s rulers accountable under international law for their treatment of women and girls.
Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a UN convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.
The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until Monday.
Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.
More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the proposed legal action against the Taliban.
“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination against women and girls," the countries said.
“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” they added.
The countries said they did not politically recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.
“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,” they said.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced discrimination.
“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.
The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference. They maintain that their actions are in line with their own interpretation of Islamic law.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moved forward.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Abbasi.