Media tycoon Lachlan Murdoch heads to Israel for secret meeting with Netanyahu
Will also meet with Benny Gantz; PM has long-standing relations with Murdoch family, is said to have previously tried to persuade them to invest in Fox-news style channel in Israel
Tal Schneider is a Political Correspondent at The Times of Israel
Lachlan Murdoch, the son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, is due to land in Israel on Monday for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was intended to remain a secret, The Times of Israel has learned. He is also to meet on Monday night with National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz.
Murdoch, who took over his father’s media empire in September 2023, departed the US for Israel in a private plane accompanied by an entourage. Apart from his meeting with the prime minister, his schedule is not known.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Netanyahu’s planned meeting with Murdoch to The Times of Israel.
Murdoch is the executive chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp, both of which lean to the political right, as well as the executive chairman of Australian media company NOVA Entertainment.
Operating under the News Corp brand are the publishers of the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The Sun, The Times and News Corp Australia, as well as book publisher HarperCollins.
Fox Corporation’s assets include Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, and Fox Sports, as well as streaming service Tubi.
Murdoch’s net worth is estimated at $3.3 billion and comes partially from investments he made independently of his father and News Corp.
He was originally expected to visit Israel several weeks ago along with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham but did not end up doing so. On that trip, too, plans had been underway for him to meet with Netanyahu and Gantz.
Netanyahu and the Murdoch family have known each other for many years. In 2016, the Hebrew business daily The Marker reported that Netanyahu’s then-media adviser Nir Hefetz was looking into establishing a conservative television channel in Israel modeled after Fox News and was interested in finding partners for the project, including Rupert Murdoch.
During investigations into charges against Netanyahu of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, former Ynet editor Eran Tiefenbrunn testified to the police that after leaving Ynet, he traveled to London to hold an exploratory meeting with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch regarding a possible investment in a right-wing media outlet in Israel.
According to the information that emerged in the police investigation, prior to the trip to London, Netanyahu and Tiefenbrunn held a meeting on the same subject.
In addition, in October 2016, Lachlan Murdoch came to Israel for a secret meeting with Netanyahu, Hebrew daily Haaretz reported in 2017. According to the report, Netanyahu had attempted to persuade the Murdoch heir to purchase Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Netanyahu has previously said that he is working to change the face of Israeli media to make it “more diverse.”
