Sara Netanyahu took part in interview of PM’s military secretary candidate — reports

Sources says premier was not present for PM’s wife’s conversation with Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno, and that it was ‘not just small talk’

Sara Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, recently participated in the interview of a candidate for the position of her husband’s new military secretary while the premier himself was not in the room, according to Wednesday reports.

Sara Netanyahu has repeatedly been accused of getting involved in political and professional appointments during her husband’s terms as prime minister, an activity that opposition figures have criticized as political interference and meddling from the premier’s family.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s wife was in the room with her husband’s chief of staff, Ido Norden, for an interview with Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno, who currently serves as the military secretary to the defense minister.

The interview took place last month, the Ynet news outlet reported.

The conversation between Markizeno and Sara Netanyahu was brief, Ynet said, quoting sources familiar with the details of the meeting, though it was “not just small talk” but rather was for the purpose of gaining a “personal impression.”

It did not specify what was discussed in the meeting.

According to the report, the conversation was held just before Markizeno’s formal interview with the premier, which Sara Netanyahu was not present for.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the alleged meeting. The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.

Netanyahu’s most recent military secretary, Roman Gofman, was sworn in this week as the head of the Mossad intelligence agency after a lengthy legal process.

The premier is expected to soon announce Gofman’s successor as military secretary to the prime minister.

Sara Netanyahu has long been alleged to be involved in the selection of political and professional appointments during her husband’s decades in office, with former officials alleging that the premier and his wife reached an agreement in the 1990s that granted her sweeping control over core aspects of national affairs, including veto power over senior appointments and the right to be included in security deliberations.

The existence of the agreement was never confirmed, though Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, who served under Netanyahu for years, testified in court in 2023 that Sara Netanyahu was routinely and “actively” involved in appointments and other matters of political importance.

A source close to the premier’s wife confirmed to Forbes in 2013 that she was “deeply involved in deciding who the people who make the critical decisions are.”

In 2023, the Netanyahus testified in court that there was no secret contract between them giving the premier’s partner the right to be involved in political and professional appointments.