Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered on Monday an impassioned defense of his wife ahead of her trial later this month for misusing public funds.
He said she was "heroically" withstanding a media onslaught that has been "trampling her image."
Netanyahu's comments to his Likud faction in parliament came after days in which unflattering transcripts from police investigations of Sara Netanyahu have been leaked to the media on a near-daily basis.
"For 20 years, they have been trampling her image in the media every day and every night," the prime minister said, pounding his hand on the table.
"Sara is an amazing woman, a wonderful mother, she was a perfect daughter to her parents and the media completely ignores all her public activity," AP quoted him as saying.
On June 21, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Magistrate's Court in Jerusalem filed an indictment against Sara Netanyahu and former deputy director of operations and property in the premier’s office Ezra Saidoff, accusing them of manipulating public funds, exploiting state funds for personal purposes and other corruption charges.
She was charged with fraud and breach of trust for allegedly overspending roughly NIS359,000 (about $100,000) on private meals at the prime minister's official residence, even when there was a full-time chef on staff.
According to the public prosecution, the delay in filing the indictment for five years was due to the difficulty of reviewing all the evidence and balancing all the circumstances of the case.
The indictment said that Sara and Saidoff deliberately violated the procedures that prohibit the request of ready meals, forged invoices and prepared mock statements to the ministry despite the recruitment of cooks in the prime minister's house.
Saidoff is also accused of committing additional acts and charges in the indictment, including obtaining items through fraud, dishonesty and forgery in regards to the employment of chefs in private meetings and celebrations and the recruitment of waiters at the official residence of the prime minister.
Netanyahu slammed the indictment but said his wife was dealing with the criticism with dignity and was buoyed by public support.
