Yair Netanyahu

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Yair Netanyahu
Yair Netanyahu at US Embassy Jerusalem Dedication Ceremony.jpg
Netanyahu in May 2018
Born
Yair Netanyahu

(1991-07-26) 26 July 1991 (age 30)
Jerusalem, Israel
NationalityIsrael Israeli
CitizenshipIsrael Israeli
Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem
(B.A. in International Relations)
IDC Herzliya
(M.A. in Government Studies)
OccupationPodcaster
Known forSon of Israeli Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu
Political partyLikud
Parents
Relatives

Yair Netanyahu (Hebrew: יאיר נתניהו; born 26 July 1991)[1][2] is the eldest son of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is known for making incendiary statements in defense of his father on social media.[3][4]

Early life and education[]

Netanyahu was born on 26th July, 1991 in Jerusalem, Israel to Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara.[5][6] He has a brother, Avner,[7] and a half-sister, Noa Netanyahu-Roth; Noa is Benjamin Netanyahu's daughter by his first wife, Miriam Weizmann.[8][9]

Netanyahu majored in Theatre at the High School for the Arts in Jerusalem, Israel before serving in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.[10] He previously worked as social media director for Shurat HaDin, an Israeli NGO that provides legal services to victims of terrorist attacks.[11] After finishing his army service, Netanyahu studied international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations.[10] Netanyahu also studied at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Government Studies.[12][13]

Career[]

Netanyahu is a staunch defender of his father’s policies and has published his opinions in op-eds, including at Breitbart News, an American far-right[14] news and opinion website.[15] In late 2017, Netanyahu posted an antisemitic meme on Facebook portraying his father's political opponents as puppets controlled by George Soros; the meme garnered support from US white nationalists, including David Duke, and neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer described itself as "The World’s #1 Yair Netanyahu fansite".[3][16] Netanyahu later deleted the post following backlash.[3]

In December 2018, he was suspended from Facebook for 24 hours after posting anti-Muslim content.[17][18] One of Netanyahu's comments read: "There will never be peace with those monsters in the form of men that have called themselves ‘Palestinians’ since 1964".[3]

Netanyahu was put on leave in March 2019 after deriding President Reuven Rivlin for his work on Arab-Israeli coexistence.[11]

In May 2019, Netanyahu expressed support for right-wing nationalist figures Viktor Orbán, Matteo Salvini, Nigel Farage and Geert Wilders in the 2019 European Parliament election.[19] In the same month, some observers hypothesized that Netanyahu was looking for a job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[20] although Netanyahu has denied that he is looking for a political career.[3] In June 2019, Netanyahu met with Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.[11]

In September 2019, Netanyahu accused former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995, of having "murdered Holocaust survivors on the Altalena". The comments were disavowed by his father.[21][22][23] He has compared Roni Alsheikh, the Israel Police chief who played a role in the Netanyahu corruption investigations, to the fictional mobster Tony Soprano.[3] While being questioned by police during the investigations, Netanyahu called the police "Stasi" and "Gestapo" and said they were worse than the mafia. He also accused Nir Hafetz and Gideon Saar of various crimes.[24]

In November 2020, Netanyahu launched his own right-wing podcast called The Yair Netanyahu Show, with episodes spoken in both English and Hebrew.[25] His first guest was Brazilian politician Eduardo Bolsonaro, the third son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.[26]

Legal cases[]

In January 2018, a scandal erupted when a recording of Netanyahu's visit to a Tel Aviv strip club in 2015 was leaked. In the tape, Netanyahu discussed strippers and referred to a controversial gas deal signed by his father.[27][28] He filed a lawsuit for 1 million NIS ($272,000) against his driver, who allegedly recorded the tape.[29]

On 7 July 2019, he won a libel suit against Israeli Labor Party activist Abie Binyamin for claiming that Netanyahu was hiding millions in offshore accounts.[30]

In November 2019, Netanyahu was sued for slander after sharing a Facebook post claiming that former Walla news site editor, Avi Alkalay, was a plant for the Wexner Foundation.[31] In February 2020, he was ordered to pay damages and legal costs totalling $81,000.[32][33] Netanyahu appealed the decision, but his appeal was rejected by the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court in July 2021.[34]

Personal life[]

Netanyahu used to live with his parents at Beit Aghion, the prime minister's official residence in Rehavia, Jerusalem.[4] In July 2021, he and his parents had to leave the prime minister's residence after Netanyahu was ousted from power.[35]

In January 2014, Norwegian newspaper Dagen reported that Netanyahu was dating Sandra Leikanger, a Norwegian student. The couple had met while they were students at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. The news resulted in outraged reactions from Israeli politicians due to Leikanger being a non-Jew.[36][13]

In 2015, Netanyahu briefly dated Lee Levi, a Danish-Israeli model and student.[37][38]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "יאיר נתניהו – הארץ" [Yair Netanyahu]. Haaretz. Retrieved 26 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ המפגין שנתבע על ידי יאיר נתניהו: "אני מתנצל בפניו ובפני בני ביתו".
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wootliff, Raoul (27 October 2019). "The supporter closest to home: Yair Netanyahu's most incendiary tweets". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b Tarnopolsky, Noga (7 June 2019). "Benjamin Netanyahu's not-so-secret weapon: his son Yair, the Israeli leader's defender in chief". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Yair Netanyahu said to file complaint against chief investigator in Case 1000". The Times of Israel. Staff. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Yair Netanyahu said to call police 'Gestapo' during questioning in Bezeq case". The Times of Israel. Staff. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  7. ^ Gordon, Evelyn (17 March 2010). "Netanyahu Jr. wins National Bible Quiz". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Mazel Tov Mr. Prime Minister! Netanyahu's first grandson born". Haaretz. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  9. ^ Kalman, Matthew (10 April 2013). "Netanyahu's women and the making of Psychobibi". The Times of Israel Blogs (in American English). Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b Sadeh, Shuki (5 December 2016). "The rise of Yair Netanyahu, the 25-year-old who has the prime minister's ear". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b c Cortellessa, Eric (8 June 2019). "Yair Netanyahu meets with senior adviser for Trump reelection campaign in DC". Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  12. ^ Wiener-Bronner, Danielle (27 January 2014). "Netanyahu's Son's Girlfriend Is Not Jewish, and Israel Is Freaking Out". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ a b Newman, Marissa (27 January 2014). "Netanyahu's son sparks outrage". The Times of Israel (in American English). Retrieved 26 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Multiple sources:
  15. ^ Keidar, Nitsan (7 May 2019). "Yair Netanyahu: 'Land for Peace leads to Land for War'". Israel National News. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  16. ^ Berger, Miriam (11 September 2017). "Yair Netanyahu accused of antisemitism over Facebook post". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Yair Netanyahu says he'd 'prefer' if 'all the Muslims leave' Israel". Times of Israel. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Yair Netanyahu blocked on Facebook, anti-Muslim post removed". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Yair Netanyahu criticised over tweet backing Farage, Orban and Wilders". Times of Israel. 22 May 2019.
  20. ^ Itamar Eichner (27 May 2019). "Netanyahu's son makes waves dabbling in foreign policy". Ynetnews. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Yair Netanyahu more dangerous than Rabin assassin Yigal Amir, says Labor head". Times of Israel. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Netanyahu distances himself from son's remarks on Yitzhak Rabin". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Netanyahu distances himself from son's remarks over assassinated Yitzhak Rabin". i24NEWS. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Yair Netanyahu's turbulent investigation". Israel National News. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  25. ^ Hoffman, Gil (23 October 2020). "Yair Netanyahu: The rise of the son". The Jerusalem Post (in American English). Retrieved 2 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ "יאיר נתניהו השיק פודקאסט משלו, והוא נשמע בדיוק כמו שאתם חושבים". www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  27. ^ "'God Help Us if This Gets Out': The Full Transcript of Yair Netanyahu's Wild Tel Aviv Night". Haaretz. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Netanyahu's son Yair to son of gas tycoon outside strip club: My dad set up $20b for your dad". Haaretz. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ "Yair Netanyahu sues former driver for recording night of debauchery". Times of Israel. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  30. ^ "Yair Netanyahu wins libel suit against government critic over Facebook post". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  31. ^ Sverdlov, Leon (1 March 2020). "Yair Netanyahu to pay NIS 250K to journalist following court ruling". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  32. ^ "Yair Netanyahu ordered to pay $81,000 to journalist in libel suit". The Times of Israel (in American English). 1 March 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ "Netanyahu's son Yair ordered to pay damages to journalist in libel suit". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  34. ^ "Court rejects Yair Netanyahu's appeal to cancel libel verdict against him". The Times of Israel (in American English). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ Krauss, Joseph (20 June 2021). "Netanyahu's moving out, but not soon enough for critics". Associated Press. Retrieved 26 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ Federman, Josef (28 January 2014). "Love life of Israeli PM's son sparks uproar". Associated Press. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. ^ "Strip club worker says Netanyahu's son was a customer for several years". Haaretz. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. ^ Spiro, Amy (9 January 2018). "Yair Netanyahu's ex: I'm ashamed we ever dated". The Jerusalem Post (in American English). Retrieved 23 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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