Ruth Bar speaks for the first time about working with Netanyahu early in his career
Israeli psychologist and strategic consultant Ruth Bar gave her first public interview, in which she spoke about more than three years of professional cooperation with Benjamin Netanyahu at the beginning of his political career. According to the Jerusalem Post, Bar was Netanyahu’s strategic adviser during his campaign for the position of chairman of the Likud party in the early 1990s.
The interview was published ahead of the release of her book, Brain Under the Influence. According to the publication, in the book Bar sets out her views on decision-making mechanisms, branding and the analysis of Israeli election campaigns.
Working on Netanyahu’s team
Bar said that she began cooperating with Netanyahu in the late 1980s. At first, she analyzed his television appearances, and later conducted political research, assessed his public appearances, messaging and body language.
According to her, she was part of a narrow circle of advisers that she called the “submarine.” It also included Eyal Arad, Ivet Liberman, Yaakov Akst and others. Bar claims that after Netanyahu’s conflict with Liberman, she persuaded the politician to bring him back onto the team.
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The consultant also studied the positions of younger Likud politicians, including Benny Begin, Ehud Olmert, Moshe Katsav, Dan Meridor and David Levy. In her assessment, Netanyahu started his bid for party leadership from the middle of the field, but later overtook his rivals.
The 1993 on-air admission
On January 14, 1993, Netanyahu admitted live on Israel’s Channel 1 that he had an extramarital relationship with his strategic adviser during the Likud chairmanship primaries. He said he had been blackmailed with a recording that allegedly contained evidence of the relationship and accused an unnamed senior party official of attempting blackmail.
As the Jerusalem Post writes, the recording was never released. Bar declined to comment on the relationship itself. She stated that she was paid for her professional work with Netanyahu and has the relevant invoices. Describing his style at the time, Bar said that from the beginning of their cooperation she noticed in him a pronounced sense of superiority over political opponents.
