From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 10, 2017
PM’s son removes ‘anti-Semitic’ meme from Facebook
Amid widespread criticism, Yair Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, removes a controversial meme he posted on his Facebook page yesterday that included anti-Semitic themes.
The meme showed American Jewish billionaire George Soros, and a figure that resembles Nazi depictions of world Jewry as a reptilian, manipulating former prime minister Ehud Barak and two leaders of weekly protests calling on Netanyahu to step down over corruption allegations.
Earlier today, the Anti-Defamation League slammed the post, saying it contained “blatantly anti-Semitic elements.” Political leaders in Israel also lashed out at Yair Netanyahu for the cartoon.
The post came in response to a slew of corruption allegations facing the Netanyahu family.
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. And Israel’s attorney general has said he intends to indict the prime minister’s wife, Sara, for fraud over her bloated household expenses.
