The Man Who Saw It All: Netanyahu's Former Chief of Staff Reveals What Happened in the Bureau

Yoav Horowitz, Netanyahu's former chief of staff, in his first television interview: tells about the demand for personal loyalty in the bureau, the moment he stopped Sara Netanyahu, and his perception of Netanyahu as a 'king and emperor'. He says that since 2019 there is no democracy in Israel, and refers to the QatarGate affair and the pen affair.

Yoav Horowitz, who served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff for three years, gave his first television interview to Yaron Abraham on Channel 12's 'Ulpan Shishi' program. The interview was filmed in Gush Etzion, where his father Rafael fought in the War of Independence and was captured by the Jordanians. Horowitz, now head of Gadi Eisenkot's team, spoke about a demand that came 'from home' to have bureau and residence employees sign a loyalty pledge to the Netanyahu family, and that Netanyahu told him 'do what you were asked to do', but he refused. He described Netanyahu's self-perception as 'something between a king and an emperor' and said that 'since 2019 there is no real democracy in Israel'. Horowitz confirmed that he held Sara Netanyahu's hand to prevent her from physically attacking the ministry's director general, Eli Groner, in the pen affair, and that he asked to end his role already then. He said that 'Sara Netanyahu and Benjamin Netanyahu are one', and that the family's influence on decisions is significant, including in the magnetometer affair. He added that 'improper things are done there' and that the prime minister is aware of what is happening.