Inmate suspected of threatening PM's ex-maid Lillian Peretz
Police arrest Oren Avraham, currently serving time in Hadarim Prison, on suspicions that he telephoned and threatened housekeeper suing Sara Netanyahu, and her husband and children. Convict: I don't know Peretz or Sarah Netanyahu
Oren Avraham, a serial harasser who even once ordered pizzas to a cabinet meeting at the expense of the Prime Minister's Office director general, is suspected of issuing death threats to Lillian Peretz, the housekeeper who is suing the prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu.
Avraham, 36, from Ramla, is currently serving time in Hadarim Prison. He was arrested by Hadera Police, who will bring him Thursday for a hearing on the extension of his remand in Hadera Magistrates' Court.
An investigation revealed that Avraham did not call the Peretz family members directly from the public phone at the prison. The phone calls received by the family were from an identified number with an unknown area code.
Defense Attorney Alon Davidov said Avraham has denied the allegations against him, adding that client was detained only because the threatening phone calls were placed from inside Hadarim Prison.
Avraham said during the hearing, "I did nothing. I don’t know Lillian Peretz, Sara Netanyahu or any else connected to this affair. The only thing linking me to Netanyahu is the pizzas that I ordered to the PM's Office a few years ago. I'm innocent."
Avraham said he would be willing to undergo a voice recognition test.
Avraham had been forbidden from using the prison's phone, but appealed the prohibition in the High Court, which ruled that he could use the telephone under supervision.
In a phone call Peretz received, an unidentified man said that if she did not retract her lawsuit against the Netanyahus, she, her husband, and children would be hurt. Her husband received a similar phone call this week in which the names of the couple's children were used.
Last week, Peretz filed a complaint to Hadera Police over a phone call she received in which an unknown caller threatened her life and gave her 12 hours to halt her legal proceedings against Netanyahu.
"I received a phone call in which the person did not identify himself and said to me: 'You, Lilllian, the one making the mess. If within 12 hours you don't finish the affair, you, personally, will be hurt. This is from Bibi,'" recounted Peretz before filing her complaint. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often referred to as Bibi in Israel.
Again on Monday, Lillian Peretz arrived at the police station, this time with her husband, who claimed to have received a phone call in which he was told that if the suit his wife filed against the prime minister's wife was not withdrawn within 12 hours, he and his children would be hurt.
"You aren't getting the hint. If you don't come off the case, I will murder you and your children," Lillian's husband said he was told during the call. According to him, the anonymous man on the other side of the line even mentioned his children my name and added that "there will be warning shots in the air" before he murders them.
The affair started when Peretz filed a legal suit against her employer Sara Netanyahu that claimed that she was exploited and humiliated by her during the period she worked in the Netanyahu household in Caesarea as a housekeeper. Sara Netanyahu has said that the suit is a smear campaign and that the complainant, Peretz, received warm and loving attention in the Netanyahu household.
