MK claims Netanyahu’s son was sent abroad for hitting PM; Likud: ‘A despicable lie’
Democrats lawmaker Naama Lazimi insists it was physical assault that led Yair Netanyahu to move to a luxury condo in Miami
The Democrats lawmaker Naama Lazimi claimed Sunday that the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “exiled” abroad after he hit the premier, drawing chuckles and disbelief from other MKs at a Knesset meeting.
The opposition MK made the comment at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting as she asked questions about the funding for Sara Netanyahu’s recent two-and-a-half-month stay in the United States, and the annual cost of security for Yair Netanyahu, who lives in Miami.
“I want to ask if this amount is still budgeted and whether there is still an intention to finance [Yair Netanyahu’s] stay because he hit the prime minister, and was forced to go abroad because he harmed a symbol of government,” she said after citing a report from last year that Yair’s protection had already cost NIS 2.5 million ($680,000).
Other lawmakers present at the meeting seemed to be shocked and amused by Lazimi’s statement.
“What do you mean?” one asked incredulously in a video of the exchange.
“Absolutely, he was exiled abroad,” she insisted, seeming surprised that her fellow MKs were not aware of the alleged claims.
נעמה לזימי: יאיר נתניהו הוגלה לחו"ל כי הכה את אביו | חברת הכנסת ביקשה להבין מי מימן את שהות שרה נתניהו בארה"ב, והעלתה שאלות בנוגע לאבטחת בנו של ראש הממשלה: "נאלץ להיות בחו"ל כי פגע בסמל שלטון. הוא לא יכול לחזור"@naamalazimi @netanyahu @YairNetanyahu pic.twitter.com/gDIGC0OWl4
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) February 23, 2025
Others at the meeting prodded Lazimi for more details.
However, Lazimi brushed off the remarks and went back to speaking of funding issues.
Netanyahu’s Likud party responded that Lazimi’s comments were “a despicable lie, a new low for left-wing muck.”
It said Lazimi “should remove her immunity and pay, just as anyone who echoes this despicable lie will be sued and will pay.”
Yair Netanyahu is known for his far-right views and combative social media presence, which has landed him in court on several occasions. He has repeatedly made baseless claims of deep-state conspiracies and coup attempts by justice and law enforcement officials against his father. He rose in public prominence amid widespread reports that he was influencing the prime minister’s policies.
The younger Netanyahu left Israel in March 2023 amid reports he was banned by his father from posting on social media for inflaming tensions in Israel, exacerbating a diplomatic rift with the United States.
He first visited Puerto Rico and then reached the mainland US, basing himself in Florida.
Securing Yair Netanyahu’s stay in an extravagant apartment complex in Miami, Florida, with a chauffeur and a pair of bodyguards from the Shin Bet’s elite Unit 730, costs the state an estimated NIS 200,000 ($55,000) a month, according to a Channel 12 report last year, for a total of NIS 2.5 million ($680,000) until that time, March 2024.
In February 2024 the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper published images and video of Netanyahu at the Hallandale Beach condo. According to that report, Netanyahu cannot work in the US as he is on a tourist visa.
Sara Netanyahu spent some 11 weeks in the US at the end of last year and early this year, during which time she was visiting her son, but also met with then-US president-elect Donald Trump. She flew home with her husband on February 9, at the end of his US trip, having continued her US visit while her husband underwent prostate removal surgery at the end of December.
In July 2024, the Ministerial Committee for General Security Service Affairs voted to grant another year of Shin Bet security coverage to Netanyahu’s wife and their two sons, who are both in the US.
