Hailing Yair Netanyahu, neo-Nazi site puts him on its banner
Daily Stormer declares itself to be PM son’s number one fan site over his ‘anti-Semitic’ Facebook post
The neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, which had welcomed Yair Netanyahu as a “total bro” for posting a meme over the weekend that employed alleged anti-Semitic imagery, on Tuesday featured the prime minister’s son in a large banner across its homepage.
The banner proclaimed that the Daily Stormer is “The World’s #1 Yair Netanyahu fansite.”
The younger Netanyahu drew widespread criticism for the meme — which had sought to lampoon his father’s political enemies and featured references to Jewish billionaire George Soros, the Illuminati and a reptilian creature — and removed it from his Facebook page two days after posting it.
He posted the graphic Friday with the caption: “Food chain,” and took the post down on Sunday more than 24 hours after it sparked an outcry from Israeli and US Jewish leaders. As of Sunday night, he had offered no apology nor expressed remorse.
On Saturday, The Daily Stormer praised him for using the image.
In an article titled “Netanyahu’s Son Posts Awesome Meme Blaming the Jews for Bringing Down His Jew Father,” the website wrote, “Yair Netanyahu is a total bro.”
“Next he’s going [sic] call for gassings,” the website added.
David Duke, the former KKK leader, tweeted “Welcome to the club, Yair — absolutely amazing, wow, just wow,” as well as sharing media reports about the meme.
Political leaders in Israel also lashed Yair Netanyahu for the cartoon.
The cartoon took aim at his parents’ critics, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, lawyer and Labor party activist Eldad Yaniv, and Menny Naftali, a former caretaker at the Prime Minister’s Residence, who is at the heart of allegations of wrongdoing over which Sara Netanyahu, Yair’s mother, is facing indictment.
The 26-year-old Netanyahu has drawn criticism for living a life of privilege at taxpayers’ expense and for his crude social media posts.
The Netanyahu family is facing a slew of corruption allegations. The prime minister has been questioned about his ties to executives in media, international business and Hollywood. His associates have been engulfed in a probe relating to a possible conflict of interest involving the $2 billion purchase of German submarines. Israel’s attorney general has said he intends to indict the prime minister’s wife, Sara, for fraud over her bloated household expenses.
Yair Netanyahu, who has reportedly taken a leading role in his father’s aggressive social media platform, has also been drawn into the scandals.
Australian billionaire James Packer has reportedly lavished Yair with gifts that included extended stays at luxury hotels in Tel Aviv, New York and Aspen, Colorado, as well as the use of his private jet and dozens of tickets for concerts by Packer’s former fiancee, Mariah Carey.
Police are trying to determine whether these constitute bribes, since Packer is reportedly seeking Israeli residency status for tax purposes.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, portraying the accusations as a witch hunt against him and his family by a hostile media. He has resisted increasingly vocal calls by opposition MKs to step down.
Agencies contributed to this report.
