Lawyer denies ‘rumors’ PM’s son is behind her nixed state comptroller candidacy

Michal Rosenboim denies claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly dropped his support for her yesterday as the coalition’s favored state comptroller candidate — hours after saying he would back her — due to pressure from his son.

Some political sources have told Hebrew media that Yair Netanyahu convinced his father to reject Rosenboim as a candidate because she has been linked to anti-Netanyahu activist Eldad Yaniv, while others speculated it was due to the attorney having been linked to the premier’s main political rival in Likud, Gideon Sa’ar.

United Torah Judaism officials said earlier today that they were surprised by the change in the prime minister’s position, with some pointing to a Twitter exchange between Yair Netanyahu and Yaniv about Rosenboim as the cause.

But in a statement, Rosenboim says: “I am aware of the rumors about the purported intervention by Yair Netanyahu. I don’t know him, I have never met him, and I want to tell you with certainty that it never happened, [people are] pointing at him for no reason.”