PM’s firebrand son baselessly suggests Israeli left to blame for major blazes
Yair Netanyahu claims the fires are ‘suspicious’ because ‘the Kaplanist left has been frantically trying in recent weeks to cancel Independence Day celebrations’
Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggested baselessly on Wednesday that left-wing activists may be behind the large fires raging in the Jerusalem hills.
“Something here is suspicious,” wrote the premier’s firebrand son on X. “The Kaplanist left has been frantically trying in recent weeks to cancel Independence Day celebrations and the torch-lighting ceremony.”
The inflammatory remarks presented by the younger Netanyahu without evidence were directed at the anti-government protest movement, which frequently holds large rallies on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street.
“I really hope the arson was only carried out by Arabs, without any collaboration from our own people,” he added, despite authorities saying Wednesday evening that although they were probing whether the fires were started intentionally, it was still too early to tell.
Yair Netanyahu is known for his provocative online presence, and has frequently attacked various sectors and bodies in Israeli society, including, but not limited to, left-wing activists, the security services and the legal system.
To that end, he also shared a series of posts Wednesday evening on the Telegram messaging app that blamed the Shin Bet for failing to prevent the fires from breaking out.
“The Shin Bet has been taken hostage by [an anti-government activist] and there is no one to protect the Jewish people from an Arab arson terror attack,” one post read, referring to Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
A second post claimed that “the head of the Shin Bet of the High Court of Justice (Ronen Bar)” deals with “persecuting those who know what happened on October 7, clinging to his post, persecuting settlers” instead of “preventing Arab terrorism.”
The slew of accusations against the Shin Bet came amid an extended campaign by the government against the security agency’s leadership, which is involved in probing potential illicit ties between officials in the premier’s office and Qatar.
Bar announced on Monday that he would resign from his position on June 15 after a month-long, high-profile legal struggle with the elder Netanyahu, who fired him in March.
The accusations of arson were echoed by other right-wing activists and lawmakers online, including by ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who said “arch-terrorist” arsonists should be sentenced to death.
“For all intents and purposes, the arsonists should be treated as arch-terrorists who tried to murder thousands of civilians, and as such, they should be brought to justice, in its full severity,” added Ben Gvir, who is facing criticism over the fire service’s preparedness for the blazes.
Calling the raging fires “further evidence of the critical need to pass the death penalty law for terrorists,” Ben Gvir reiterated that such a law must also apply “to those who try to burn thousands of civilians.”
Shas leader Aryeh Deri wrote on X that Palestinians ostensibly responsible for starting Wednesday’s major fires across the country should be “eliminated from the air.”
“Arsonists during wartime are terrorists in every sense,” he wrote. “I call on the prime minister to instruct the IDF to eliminate from the air any terrorist identified as an arsonist.”
He added: “Whoever starts fires during a heatwave and war — their blood is on their own head. This is a ticking time bomb, just like someone who fires a weapon.”
The fires disrupted Israel’s Independence Day celebrations, causing the closure of roads, evacuations of towns, and the cancellation of many events.
The Times of Israel Community.