Israel's First Lady Sara Netanyahu Fights Back

JERUSALEM, Jan. 26, 2010 — -- The ongoing media storm over Sara Netanyahu's alleged mistreatment of her family's former employees has taken a new twist.

The first lady filed a libel suit Monday against leading Israeli newspaper Maariv and senior columnist Ben Caspit, seeking more than $250,000 in damages.

The newspaper published a story Friday accusing her of sacking an elderly man who used to work in the garden of the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem.

Caspit described him as "an elderly man, over 70, a bereaved father, who would rake the dry leaves and do basic gardening work in return for less than the minimum wage."

The libel suit denied that the man was fired, saying, "there is not a shred of truth in the above-cited article."

It also accused the Hebrew-language Maariv of failing to seek a response from Netanyahu to the allegation, causing her mental anguish that severely damaged her good name.

The latest development, which dominates the front pages and radio call-in shows, came a week after the Netanyahus' former cleaning lady Lillian Peretz filed a suit against Netanyahu for mistreatment and underpayment.

Meanwhile, two other newspapers have demanded a legal gag order be lifted on another case launched by a second anonymous cleaning lady against Netanyahu, alleging similar mistreatment.

There was no sign today that Maariv was backing down from its attack on the Netanyahu family.

In a front page article entitled "We Are Not Afraid," Caspit shot back, "The Netanyahu family yesterday launched a multi-pronged attack against a large part of the free media outlets that it does not (yet) control. ... All these steps attest to mounting panic."