[ back to Breaking News index ] TOP STORIES Israel can burn: ex-PM's wife JERUSALEM|Published: Friday September 6, 8:05 AM The wife of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "this country can burn" and that she and her husband would leave Israel because he is not appreciated, in taped remarks played on Israel TV today. Sara Netanyahu later apologised, in a letter sent to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for the comments she made during a telephone conversation with Shimshon Deri, an activist in Netanyahu and Sharon's hawkish Likud party. In the phone call, she said: "There are sometimes issues of revenge and personal conflicts and they don't understand one thing: when the country is in flames, when there are terror attacks ... there is one person who can save this country," referring to her husband, who is vying with Sharon for party leadership. Using Netanyahu's nickname, she said, "Bibi is a leader who is greater than this entire country, he really is a leader on a national scale. We'll move abroad. This country can burn. This country can't survive without Bibi. People here will be slaughtered." Israel and the Palestinians are locked in nearly two years of fighting, during which Palestinian suicide bombers have killed more than 250 Israelis. Netanyahu has repeatedly criticised Sharon for failing to bring an end to the attacks, demanding harsher military measures. Netanyahu served as Israel's prime minister from 1996-1999, pursuing a hardline policy toward the Palestinians. He was defeated in an election by Ehud Barak, a moderate, whose peace efforts failed. Barak lost an election in February last year to Sharon, a veteran hawk. Following his defeat, Netanyahu left politics briefly, but he returned before the 2001 election, seeking special permission to run for prime minister, though he was not a member of parliament. The parliament turned him down, and he embarked on a campaign to unseat Sharon as Likud party leader. Sara Netanyahu got a reputation as a tempestuous and troublesome character during her husband's tenure as prime minister. Local media reported about her temper tantrums and demands for special treatment. She was interrogated by police, along with Netanyahu, on suspicion of stealing gifts received while Netanyahu was in office, but neither was formally charged. ©2002 [ back to Breaking News index ] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2002 John Fairfax Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.