JERUSALEM (JTA) — A foreign worker is claiming that she was mistreated and assaulted by the Israeli prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu.
The woman from Nepal, identified Tuesday night by Israel’s Channel 2 only as "T," accused Netanyahu of not feeding her, rejecting vacation requests, and verbal and physical abuse.
Netanyahu charged that the worker, who cares for Netanyahu’s elderly and ill father, stole money from her father’s bank account and neglected him after he fell in her care, which the worker did not disclose.
"T" had been caring for Shmuel Ben-Artzi for two years when she was fired Monday, according to reports. She reached out to the media after her dismissal.
The worker injured her hand in a recent altercation with Netanyahu. The worker claims she was pushed by Netanyahu, but Netanyahu says the woman hurt herself when she fell after becoming upset, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Netanyahu has been accused of abusing her house staff in the past, most recently in a lawsuit filed in January 2010 by a woman hired to clean the Netanyahus’ home.
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