Israeli Man Changes Name to Mark Zuckerberg
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
What is it with Israelis and names inspired by Facebook?
Six months after we brought you the story of an Israeli couple who named their newborn daughter “Like,” the weekend edition of Yediot Aharonot reports that a 32-year-old Israeli man has legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg.
The new name is not a tribute to Facebook’s billionaire founder, however — the paper says it’s actually an act of revenge by his Israeli counterpart, who until recently was known as Rotem Gaz.
Gaz (now Zuckerberg), a married father of two, claims the conflict began a year ago, when hackers attacked his Facebook account and the social network and its Israeli representative did nothing to help him. Instead, they threatened a lawsuit against Gaz and his company, the Like Store, which they accused of breaking Facebook rules by creating fake accounts to “like” his clients’ products.
The new Mark Zuckerberg won’t be able to change his name again for seven years, but says his family and friends are already accustomed to his “provocative nonsense.” (As part of a different publicity effort, he once offered to sell a kidney.)
“Maybe outside Israel I’ll receive the royal treatment,” he told the newspaper, “until they realize their mistake.” The Shmooze wouldn’t bet on it.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
