Netanyahu's Son Posts Racist Comments on Facebook

Yair Netanyahu, 19-year-old son of the Israeli prime minister, posted discriminatory comments on his Facebook page about Arabs and Muslims.

The Haaretz daily reported that Yair Netanyahu commented that Muslims “celebrate hate and death” earlier this year. Afterwards, he stated that “terror has a religion and it is Islam”, following an incident with Palestinian assailants that entered a West Bank settlement and stabbed five Israelis.

The PM’s son also created a Facebook group that seeks a boycott of all Arab businesses and products. Within the group, he posts many derogatory descriptions of Arabic people. Although, the group only has 23 members, the teenager’s actions are inexcusable as he is a representative of Israeli government and currently holds station as soldier in the Israeli military’s media liaison unit.

David Shimron, a lawyer for the Netanyahu family, explains Yair’s actions as those of a teenager, and states they were “taken out of context in an attempt to defame the prime minister and his family.”

Haaretz attempted to contact a representative of the prime minister, and although they didn’t receive a response, the comments were promptly removed from the boy’s Facebook account.

Throughout history, the families of Israeli politicians are typically kept out of the media spotlight, but Netanyahu’s family has drawn negative media attention that has caused issue for the leader. David Shimron announced that Haaretz had no place to publish Yair’s comments.

“Bringing them up now is ridiculous and shows the cynical use of the words of a teenager, said in anger, when he could not imagine that someone would someday make use of them.” Shimron wrote.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife believe in moderation and tolerance, and they respect all people without regard for their religion, origin, or nationality an that is how they raise their children,” the statement continued.

This is not the first time the Netanyahu family has gotten flak from the media. Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s third wife, was previously criticized for mistreating their household staff and for interfering in state affairs.