Netanyahu's wife accuses Israeli army chiefs of plotting coup against her husband

The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused top army officials of attempting to orchestrate a coup against her husband.

The accusations were made during a meeting last week with several families of Israelis held captive in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"Israeli forces are seeking to stage a military coup against my husband," Sara Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

When some family members interrupted, suggesting she cannot claim distrust in the Israeli military, she clarified that her "distrust applies only to senior army figures, not the IDF (army) as a whole," insisting more than once that "the army brass wants to stage a coup."

Sara Netanyahu was not the only family member to accuse military leaders. Her son, Yair Netanyahu, made similar accusations earlier this month.

On June 17, Yair accused the military and the Shin Bet security service of "betrayal" during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

"What are they trying to hide? If there was no betrayal, then why are they afraid of external and independent parties investigating what happened?" he wrote on X.

"Why did the army and intelligence chiefs keep claiming that Hamas was deterred? Where was the Air Force on October 7th?" he added.

In recent months, many Israeli military, security, and political leaders have taken responsibility for the failure that led to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Netanyahu, however, refuses to accept any responsibility for the attack.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since the Hamas attack.

Nearly 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,200 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.