Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Netanyahu’s son tweets apparent death wish to ‘old people’ protesting unity talks

(JTA) — A protest in Tel Aviv against establishing a unity government in Israel that includes Benjamin Netanyahu led the prime minister’s son Yair to tweet, “I hope the old people who die because of this demonstration will be from your camp.”

The tweet generated a storm of condemnations from the left and the right in Israel. Yair Netanyahu later deleted the post — a reply to one by Nitzan Horowitz, a left-wing lawmaker, featuring a picture of himself at the demonstration.

In an unusual move, the Prime Minister’s Bureau sent out a statement distancing itself from Yair Netanyahu’s remarks.

“The prime minister absolutely rejects these remarks. The fight against the coronavirus has no camps and must not have them,” the statement read.

Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them carrying black flags and signs accusing Netanyahu of corruption, stood in spaced rows on Habimah Square and for the most part observed a distance of two yards between one another due to safety measures connected with the coronavirus.

According to Maariv, at least 1,000 people participated in the demonstration against the intention of the Blue and White opposition party to join a coalition with the Likud party. Police authoritzed the protest.

Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted in January for alleged involvement in bribery and fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases of alleged corruption. He has denied the allegations and charged they are attempts by Israel’s left wing and judiciary to remove him and the right wing from power.

The post Netanyahu’s son tweets apparent death wish to ‘old people’ protesting unity talks appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.