Criminal Probe Launched into Israel PM's Wife, Says State Attorney's Office

This file photo taken on January 31, 2017 shows Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending an event at the Knesset (Israel's parliament) in Jerusalem. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 31, 2017 shows Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending an event at the Knesset (Israel's parliament) in Jerusalem. (AFP)
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Criminal Probe Launched into Israel PM's Wife, Says State Attorney's Office

This file photo taken on January 31, 2017 shows Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending an event at the Knesset (Israel's parliament) in Jerusalem. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 31, 2017 shows Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending an event at the Knesset (Israel's parliament) in Jerusalem. (AFP)

Israeli police are conducting a criminal investigation into Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the office of the state attorney said in a letter made public on Sunday.

"A criminal investigation was opened" into suspected criminal offences, the office said in a letter to an Israeli opposition lawmaker who had accused Sara Netanyahu of tampering in her husband's corruption trial after the broadcast in December of a television news investigation.

Naama Lazimi, Knesset member for the Democrats, shared the letter on X on Sunday confirming the criminal investigation was launched on December 26, adding that her office had contacted the state attorney following the investigation by Israeli Channel 12's Uvda news program.

The show alleged that Sara Netanyahu had tried to intimidate a key witness in her husband's ongoing corruption trial.

She also organized demonstrations to harass the Attorney General, his deputy and other individuals deemed hostile to her husband, according to the program.

The state attorney's office added the investigation was being "conducted by the Israel Police accompanied by the cyber department of the state attorney's office".

In December, Benjamin Netanyahu testified in the corruption trial in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust in three separate cases, calling the charges against him "ridiculous".

The trial, which had been delayed many times since it first began in May 2020, is scheduled to last for months, with an appeals process that could further prolong matters.

Netanyahu, who filed multiple requests to delay the proceedings based on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

In the first case, Netanyahu and his wife are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars and jewellery and from billionaires in exchange for political favors.

He is the first sitting premier to face criminal trial in the country.



ICC Takes Custody of Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

A Gulfstream G550 plane believed to carry former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen after landing at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on March 12, 2025. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
A Gulfstream G550 plane believed to carry former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen after landing at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on March 12, 2025. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
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ICC Takes Custody of Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

A Gulfstream G550 plane believed to carry former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen after landing at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on March 12, 2025. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
A Gulfstream G550 plane believed to carry former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen after landing at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on March 12, 2025. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

The International Criminal Court said Wednesday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been surrendered to its custody, to face allegations of crimes against humanity stemming from deadly anti-drug crackdowns during his time in office.

The court said in a statement that “as a precautionary measure medical assistance" was made available at the airport for Duterte, in line with standard procedures when a suspect arrives.

Rights groups and families of victims have hailed Duterte's arrest Tuesday in Manila on an ICC warrant, which was announced by current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

If his case goes to trial and he is convicted, the 79-year-old Duterte could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The ICC opened an inquiry in 2021 into mass killings linked to the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported and up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

ICC judges who looked at prosecution evidence supporting their request for his arrest found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder” as an “indirect co-perpetrator for having allegedly overseen the killings when he was mayor of Davao and later president of the Philippines," according to his warrant.