Israeli Prime Minister’s Oldest Son Was Banned From Facebook For Hate Speech

Yair Netanyahu, at 27-years-old, is the eldest son of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He was up to no good on Facebook. In two posts, he called out Muslims, blaming them for strife in Israel and for terrorism. In the third post, he called Palestinians “monsters” who should move to Arab countries and declared the need to avenge the lives of two Israeli soldiers killed by Palestinian gunmen on the West Bank last Thursday. Facebook suspended Yair’s account for 24 hours after he posted a screenshot of the three posts Facebook deleted and requested friends share his repost.

On Sunday, Yair angrily tweeted the world’s right wing needs to use social media to express themselves and called Facebook “thought police” that singled him out. He accused Facebook of suspending his account because he criticized the company.

A Facebook spokesman defended Facebook’s actions to CNN: “Yair Netanyahu posted several posts which include hate speech – this clearly violates our community standards. Due to that, this content was removed from our platform as we would do for anyone posting similar content about any protected characteristic. Following this, Yair Netanyahu decided to share a screenshot of a removed post and called people to share it – which is the same as writing the hate speech all over again.” Facebook also denied censorship of criticisms against the company.

He was entangled in controversy before the Facebook incident. This past January, an Israeli TV channel aired a secret recording of Yair outside a strip club discussing government business and prostitutes with friends in 2015. Yair even asks Ori Maimon, son of an Israeli gas tycoon named Kobi Maimon, for money on the basis of a gas deal between his father and Kobi.

In 2017, Yair briefly posted a meme on Facebook insulting Jewish philanthropist, George Soros, a global advocate of progressive initiatives. He also targeted critics of his father in images viewed as anti-Semitic tropes. The Anti-Defamation League seconded the anti-Semitic aspects. In response to the posts, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, tweeted, “Welcome to the club, Yair – absolutely amazing, wow, just wow.”

Yair has been under fire for living a luxurious life at the expense of the public. As an adult, he lives in his father’s residence and has access to a bodyguard, driver, and more without working on behalf of the government. The Prime Minister has been known to walk back on his son’s posts but these latest come as he is investigated for corruption and possible bribery charges while campaigning for a fourth consecutive term in office.

Featured Image via Jewish Business News