The next sensational political story in Israel is not connected to coalition negotiations or new elections, though it could, ultimately, be a factor in speeding up elections. It is a story involving personal conduct in a sensitive, explosive familial situation that is now turning into a criminal investigation with the seeds for a big political scandal. This story has been unfolding under the media radar for several long months, and it is now beginning to leak to the outside world. An investigation is taking place of the “prime minister’s residences,” in other words, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s official Jerusalem residence and the Netanyahu private home in Caesarea. (The Netanyahus own an additional apartment in Jerusalem, but that is currently not under investigation.)

The initial details emerged from testimonies by Meni Naftali, the former caretaker of the prime minister’s residence, who is now waging a long, down-and-dirty legal struggle against the Netanyahu couple. After the testimonies, the state comptroller published a harsh report in February 2015 regarding the goings-on in these residences: irregularities in expenses, the shifting of family expenses to the state and numerous other problematic events. Many stories were disseminated in the media, some of them hair-raising. One example (among others) is that Sara Netanyahu imposed on her private driver the Sisyphean task of collecting thousands upon thousands of empty bottles used at their official residence; the first lady thus created for herself “a petty cash fund” to the tune of thousands of shekels for her own use.

At the moment, the police want to question Sara Netanyahu under caution on suspicion of violation of integrity. It is altogether possible that her husband will be subjected to a similar probe later on. If that stage arrives, then the question will be asked: Did Benjamin Netanyahu know about or was he aware of his spouse’s activities?

The one who has been trying to avert this investigation so far is Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who wraps up a seven-year term of office in January. Weinstein had been the couple’s personal lawyer the last time an investigation against them had opened, with similar allegations, immediately after Netanyahu had been dismissed from the premiership in 1999. At the time, the couple wriggled their way out of a probe by the skin on their teeth, but the then-attorney general severely castigated them. This time, things look more complicated — even though Netanyahu has succeeded in creating for himself a significant power hub in Israel’s rule-of-law authorities.