A Nepali woman working in the house of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who grabbed headlines the day before for her complaints against the premier's wife, Sarah Netanyahu, has accused the top lady of harassing and misbehaving with her to save money.

Tara Malla, a Syangja resident, who was looking after the Israeli PM's ailing father-in-law, Shmuel Ben Artzi, 96, told the Post from Jerusalem that the Netanyahu family upped harassment and torture on her of late because she was to receive an extra allowance in the case of Artzi's death while she was still at work. “If the old man, whom I looked after had died with me still at the job, I would have received extra money. I think the family thus wanted to kick me out and started compelling me to do so by resorting to violence,” Malla said.

Following the allegations, the Netanyahus had fired Malla, saying that she was negligent in her care of the old man and that she outwitted the family while extorting money from Artzi.

In a series of interviews to Israeli dailies, Malla on Wednesday rejected the claims and had in turn accused the family of double standards.

Malla had gone to Israel 28 months ago after being promised of a monthly payment of US $800. According to Malla, she was paid much less than what was promised and that she had to be on duty round-the-clock, although she was supposed to work for only eight hours.

Published on: 3 September 2011 | The Kathmandu Post