Netanyahu’s secret lover breaks 33-year silence

Dr. Ruth Bar, the woman at the center of Benjamin Netanyahu’s explosive 1993 affair scandal, has broken more than three decades of silence, offering new details about the relationship and Netanyahu’s early political ambitions.

Bar, who served as Netanyahu’s strategic and public relations adviser, spoke to Maariv journalist Ben Caspit as she publishes a new book on behavioral psychology and decision-making.

Her relationship with Netanyahu became public in January 1993, when he appeared on live television and confessed to having an extramarital affair with Bar after claiming he was being threatened with the release of a videotape allegedly showing the two together.

Bar largely disappeared from the public spotlight following the scandal. More than 30 years later, she has returned to discuss the relationship and the political environment surrounding Netanyahu’s rise.

She reveals how Netanyahu saw himself

In the interview, Bar describes Netanyahu as a politician who was convinced from an early stage that he was destined for national leadership.

Bar said her first impression of Netanyahu, which remained throughout the three years she worked with him, was an "extreme, almost frightening sense of superiority." She recalled that long before he became prime minister, Netanyahu appeared convinced he was destined to lead and saw himself as intellectually and politically above those around him. She said former staff members would later describe him as an "emperor," but that she had already recognized the same attitude in the early 1990s.

According to Bar, that sense of superiority was also reflected in how Netanyahu spoke about others. She recalled him dismissing senior military figures, IOF chiefs of staff, journalists and government officials as "clerks", or pkeidim, in a tone that conveyed clear contempt.

She said he similarly described political rivals as "small, pathetic and insignificant," rather than viewing them as legitimate competitors.

Superior to US

Bar told Caspit that Netanyahu's sense of superiority extended beyond 'Israeli' politics, saying he believed he was intellectually and strategically superior even to US presidents.

Yet Bar said Netanyahu was skilled at concealing that attitude from the public. Behind closed doors, she described a man who could be openly dismissive of those around him, while in front of cameras he presented a polished and charismatic image.

She also recalled an incident that she said revealed how closely his mood was tied to public recognition. Netanyahu once arrived at a campaign meeting in a dark and irritable mood, she said, but his demeanor changed almost instantly when he opened a newspaper and saw a large photograph of himself. The sight appeared to lift his mood, Bar recalled, suggesting how strongly visibility and recognition reinforced his sense of self.

She later advised other 'Israeli' leaders

Following her association with Netanyahu, Bar developed a career in behavioral psychology, strategic consulting and branding.

Her clients later included former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, former senior Likud politician Dan Meridor and major corporate institutions such as Bank Hapoalim.

Her decision to speak now coincides with the release of her 600-page book, Brain Under the Influence (Moah Tahat Hashpa'ah), which examines behavioral psychology, decision-making and the forces shaping human behavior.

For Netanyahu, the interview brings one of the most notorious episodes from his early political career back into the spotlight, more than three decades after his televised confession.