Brother-in-law of govt. hostage point man suspected to be behind X account slandering hostage families, spreading Oct. 7 conspiracies

The brother-in-law of the government’s hostage point man, Gal Hirsch, is suspected to be behind an anonymous X account that frequently features posts insulting the families ot the hostages and engaging in conspiracy theories, Channel 12 reports, sharing the findings of an investigation into the account which it carried out with the Fake Reporter organization.

The investigation, according to the news outlet, revealed that the account @JudeoEspanol is run by Nati Yeni, a history teacher at a Ramat Gan high school and Hirsch’s brother-in-law.

The JudeoEspanol account has more than 14,000 followers, among whom are a number of right-wing lawmakers, including Amichai Chikli and Almog Cohen, as well as the premier’s son, Yair Netanyahu.

The person running the anonymous account, said to be Yeni, frequently publishes insulting remarks about the relatives of the hostages.

In one instance, the account owner referred to Dani Elgarat, whose brother Itzik Elgarat died in Hamas captivity, as an “idiot” and a “scumbag,” and in other they referred to Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, as a “liar” who was “ready to destroy the country.”

The account has also been host to a litany of conspiracy theories regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught, and has accused left-wing Israelis of collaborating with the Gaza terror group in the run-up to the massacre, Channel 12 reported.

In response to the report, Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama Hacohen tells Channel 12 that he has requested that the city’s department of education launch a “factual investigation” into the allegations against Yeni.

He says that if the allegations are proven to be true, “the man does not deserve to pass through the gates of any educational institution.”