The Premier Body: Sarah Netanyahu, Nava Barak, and the Discourse of Womanhood in Israel

With the election of Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996, the prime minister's wife has emerged as a public figure for commentary by the Israeli body politic. Sarah Netanyahu came under unprecedented scrutiny by the Israeli public and the press. Her public and private behavior, child-rearing practices, clothes and hairstyles, as well as the intimate details of her first marriage and her treatment of her employees were exposed to public view and discussion. The article examines newspaper articles, op-ed pieces, and television satire programs and contrasts her image with that of Nava Barak, wife of the opposition (Labor) party leader (and, as of July 1999, new prime minister). The author argues that at issue is a redefinition, a very public reworking, of key concepts in the discourse on Israeli, secular, Zionist womanhood, and in particular, the role of the wife and mother.