Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly carried dirty clothes on tours to ask White House staff to wash them, according to US officials.

The fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brings many suitcases and bags full of dirty clothes to the White House for free washing on trips has become familiar to the employees working at the US President's guest house over the years.

Leaders of countries who come to the US on tours are often laundered for free by guest house staff in the White House, but they rarely take advantage of this privilege, because of their short stay and busy schedules.

"The Netanyahu family are the only ones who actually brought suitcases of dirty clothes for us to do laundry," said an unnamed US official.

Israeli officials deny Netanyahu's abuse of the US laundry service, calling the allegations "ridiculous", but admitted he had encountered many laundry-related charges in the past.

In 2016, Netanyahu sued his office and Israel's Attorney General to prevent them from publishing his laundry bills under the country's freedom of information law.

In addition, the 70-year-old Israeli prime minister has been caught up in many allegations of corruption and sparked protests against him this month.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington issued a statement saying that the laundry charges were an attempt to overshadow the success of the relationship normalization agreement that Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had

"These ridiculous and unfounded allegations are intended to undermine Prime Minister Netanyahu's performance during Tuesday's historic peace summit mediated by President Trump at the White House," the statement said.

The Israeli embassy added that Mr. Netanyahu's laundry needs were relatively modest during his latest visit.

"During this trip, the Prime Minister does not use a dry cleaning service, only a few shirts for the joint meeting, the Prime Minister's vest and Lady Netanyahu's skirt are considered for public events. Two sets are also available.

Another US official said during his visit to the White House last week, Mr. Netanyahu did not carry as many suitcases of dirty clothes as before.

The controversy over Netanyahu's laundry operations stems from recordings of the former aide close to him released in 2018 during his criminal trial.

"Every trip has at least 4 or 5 suitcases filled with laundry. Journalists asked me about that and I checked the bills. Nothing appeared on the bills, somehow.

Netanyahu denied wrongdoing during the trial, describing it as a leftist political witch hunt aimed at getting rid of him.

In recent weeks, the Israeli prime minister's residence has been the site of weekly protests, gathering tens of thousands of people, accusing him of corruption and poor handling of the Covid-19 epidemic in the wake of

In order to control the disease, Israel has imposed restrictions on travel and gathering activities.