Sara Netanyahu Privately Interviewed Military Secretary Candidate Before Appointment

Sources in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s have admitted that Sara Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s wife, conducted a lengthy conversation with Roman Gofman prior to his appointment as Netanyahu’s military secretary.

The meeting reportedly took place in the Prime Minister’s Office, with Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, standing guard outside to ensure no one else entered the room during the discussion.

Gofman was appointed military secretary to the Prime Minister a year ago, after sustaining serious injuries in the battles in Sderot on October 7, 2023. Months prior to his appointment, Haaretz revealed that while serving as commander of the 210th Division, Gofman authorized a subordinate to share classified information with Uri Almakayes, a then-17-year-old who ran a Telegram channel.

He also permitted officers under his command to contact hostile actors through Almakayes.

Almakayes was later charged with leaking classified information on social media and spent approximately 18 months in detention.

The charges were ultimately dropped after it was revealed he had been acting on behalf of the military.

Prior Involvement by Sara Netanyahu

In January, a report surfaced that Prime Minister Netanyahu had also interviewed David Zini for the military secretary role, but later described him privately as “too messianic,” following reports that Sara Netanyahu had supported Zini’s candidacy for IDF Chief of Staff.

Following this, Netanyahu asked then-Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to present additional candidates, one of whom was Gofman.

This is not the first testimony regarding Sara Netanyahu's involvement in military appointments. In 2023, Maj. Gen. (res.) Guy Tzur stated that when he was considered for the same role back in 2012, Sara Netanyahu interviewed him for 45 minutes. During that conversation, she focused heavily on his role as Southern Command Chief of Staff during the Gaza disengagement, questioning whether he had considered disobeying orders.

"I felt that based on my answers regarding the disengagement, I would not be selected," Tzur said.

He was eventually passed over, and Eyal Zamir was chosen for the position.

In 2018, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon claimed that then-Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot complained to him that candidates for military secretary were being interviewed by the Prime Minister’s wife.

"The Chief of Staff came to me visibly alarmed and said, ‘Listen, that wasn’t an interview with the Prime Minister - it was an interview with his wife.’ It shouldn’t be this way, but those are the facts," Ya’alon said.