Netanyahu's son Yair in trouble after calling broadcaster 'fat cow'
He called Assayag a “fat cow” and said she got her job on Channel 2, because of her “incitement” against his father.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: OCTOBER 21, 2018 01:40Yair Netanyahu(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair faced criticism over the weekend for using strong language against a female television broadcaster.Yair Netanyahu, who has repeatedly gotten in trouble for his posts on social media that were deemed offensive, this time targeted talk show host Ophira Assayag, who hosted on her show Kiryat Shmona woman Orna Peretz, who heckled the prime minister on Tuesday.He called Assayag a “fat cow” and said she got her job on Channel 2, because of her “incitement” against his father.The two then engaged in a fight on Facebook in which she accused him of being uneducated, living off the state, and having the genes of his mother, Sara Netanyahu, and not the prime minister.Yair Netanyahu defended himself, posting a picture of his Hebrew University diploma and pointing out his job with the organization Shurat Hadin and that his mother is the first prime minister’s wife to remain employed while her husband is prime minister.When Yair Netanyahu accused Assayag of advancing her career by having an affair with a married man, Soccer Association spokesman Kobi Barda wrote him that it was well-known that his father had cheated on Sara when she was pregnant with him.The prime minister’s elder son is no stranger to controversy. Last year he was sharply criticized for posting a cartoon on Facebook featuring many of his father’s critics, including US billionaire George Soros and former prime minister Ehud Barak. In January, recordings were released of Yair Netanyahu speaking in a vulgar manner about women and attending strip clubs.Amid a diplomatic crisis with Ankara in June, Netanyahu uploaded a post to his private Instagram account, reading “F*** Turkey.”In August 2017, Netanyahu commented on the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a white supremacist killed one woman. He wrote on Facebook: “To put things in perspective. I’m a Jew, I’m an Israeli, the neo-Nazis scum in Virginia hate me and my country. But they belong to the past. Their breed is dying out. However the thugs of Antifa and BLM [Black Lives Matter] who hate my country (and America too in my view) just as much, are getting stronger and stronger and becoming super dominant in American universities and public life.”Last summer, there was also “dog poop-gate,” in which a neighbor of the Prime Minister’s Residence accused Netanyahu on Facebook of not cleaning up after the family’s now deceased pooch, Kaya. Progressive think-tank Molad used one of its Facebook pages to essentially call him entitled and corrupt.
Molad said Netanyahu lives with his parents at the Prime Minister’s Residence, and is protected by a round-the-clock security detail provided by the state wherever he goes, despite not holding any state position of any kind.Netanyahu responded by lashing out at Molad and the New Israel Fund, accusing former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s son Ariel of having “interesting relations with a Palestinian that has significance for national security,” bringing up an incident in which former president Shimon Peres’s son killed someone in a training accident in the IDF, and former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s son Omri went to prison on corruption charges. Olmert denied the rumors and slammed Netanyahu on similar counts as Molad. Netanyahu has since sued the think-tank.Channel 10 reported in 2016 that Yair went on vacation on Australian billionaire James Packer’s dime and stayed at his homes in the US. Packer, who owns a home near the Netanyahus’ in Caesarea, is a person of interest in Case 1000, in which the prime minister is being investigated for allegedly accepting gifts worth more than the permissible amount. Following the report, the prime minister released a statement that his son is a private citizen and Packer is a close friend of the family.Lahav Harkov and Amy Spiro contributed to this report.
