In a meeting with families of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, accused military chiefs of attempting to carry out a coup against her husband, Haaretz reported on Tuesday.

At a meeting held last week with representatives of families of Gaza hostages, Netanyahu repeated several times that she has no confidence in the IDF’s senior officers.

During the conversation, the families interrupted Netanyahu, telling her that she could not say that she did not trust the army since the fate of their children and families depended on it. 

Sara Netanyahu says criticism aimed at senior commanders

In response, Netanyahu clarified her words and said that her lack of confidence is not in the IDF as a whole but in its senior commanders. She vehemently claimed that they were interested in carrying out a coup, repeating this statement more than once in the conversation.

In addition to the families’ representatives, IDF officers Col. (res.) Varda Pomerantz, head of the Hostages, Missing Persons, and Wounded Soldier Division, and Gal Hirsch, bereaved mother, attended the meeting on behalf of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum

People walk past photographs of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. June 25, 2024. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)

The meeting took place a few days after the attack by the Prime Minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, on IDF chiefs. On Saturday, he shared a video in which Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Chief Ronen Bar, and former director of the Military Intelligence Directorate Aharon Haliva, who were all called “fatal failures.”

Following this, Yair Netanyahu on X, “What are they (army chiefs) trying to hide? If there was no betrayal, why are they so afraid that external and independent parties will check what happened?”

Sara Netanyahu’s office, in response to the events, said, “Since the beginning of the war, Mrs. Netanyahu has been working on her own initiative for the families of the hostages, the bereaved families, the families of the murdered and all circles associated with this difficult war, and helps as much as she can.”

“Therefore, the blow of the false, trending, and incessant leaks on Mrs. Netanyahu is a heinous injustice. Despite the voices that try to harm her and loosen her hands, Mrs. Netanyahu will continue her activities for those who were harmed in the war and pray for the speedy return home of all 120 hostages.”