‘I had an affair with Netanyahu’: Ruth Bar breaks silence on 1993 scandal

Dr Ruth Bar, the woman at the centre of a 1993 scandal involving Benjamin Netanyahu, has spoken about the affair that briefly threatened to derail the Israeli politician’s early rise within the Likud party. On January 14, 1993, Netanyahu appeared live on Israel’s Channel 1 and publicly admitted that he had had an extramarital affair with Bar, who was working as his strategic adviser during his campaign for the Likud leadership.

At the time, the party was choosing a successor to Yitzhak Shamir after Likud’s defeat to Yitzhak Rabin in the 1992 election. Netanyahu’s main rival in the leadership contest was David Levy.

Netanyahu had returned to Israel from the United Nations only a few years earlier and joined Likud, where his political style and rapid rise unsettled established figures in the party.

Among those who viewed him as a threat were the so-called “Likud princes”, including Bennie Begin, Ehud Olmert, Dan Meridor, Roni Milo and Limor Livnat.

A threat to Netanyahu’s political ambitions

As Netanyahu gained momentum in the leadership race, his personal life suddenly became part of the political drama.

According to the account, someone called his family home and told his wife, Sara, that Netanyahu was having an affair with his strategic adviser. The caller allegedly threatened to make a tape containing evidence of the relationship public unless Netanyahu withdrew from the race.

Netanyahu chose not to step aside. Instead, he decided to address the allegations himself.

He arrived at the Channel 1 studio, where news anchor Ya’acov Ahimeir and police affairs reporter Uri Cohen-Aharonov were waiting, and admitted on live television that he had cheated on his wife.

Netanyahu also accused a “senior Likud politician”, referring to David Levy, of attempting to blackmail him. He further claimed he was surrounded by what he described as a “gang of criminals”.

The tape that never surfaced

The confession triggered an immediate uproar across Israel, which had only one television channel at the time.

The alleged tape, however, was never released.

According to the account, there was no tape in the first place. The threat may have been a prank or an attempt to intimidate Netanyahu, but it was enough to push him into making a highly unusual live television confession.

The episode became one of the most dramatic moments of Netanyahu’s early political career. Despite the scandal, he went on to win the Likud leadership contest and eventually became one of Israel’s most prominent political figures.

Who is Ruth Bar?

Bar’s name was published at the time, but she largely disappeared from public view after the scandal. With social media and today’s digital news ecosystem still years away, she was able to return to a private life and continue working as a psychologist and strategic consultant. Bar later worked with senior Israeli political figures, including Shlomo Lahat, Zvi Bar, Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, Dan Meridor and Gabi Ashkenazi.

Her professional clients also included major Israeli companies and brands such as Osem-Nestlé, Tivall, Sabra, Strauss, Jafora, Materna, Tara, Nirlat and Electra.

In the financial sector, she worked with institutions including Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Clal, Psagot and Gazit Globe, as well as Israel’s Tourism Ministry.