‘Screw you!’: Netanyahu’s son lashes out at Macron; PM objects to language, echoes critique
Yair Netanyahu assails president for saying France would soon unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state; PM rejects his son’s turn of phrase, but endorses the message
Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lashed out crudely at French President Emmanuel Macron after he said Paris could recognize a Palestinian state within months.
“Screw you!” the younger Netanyahu wrote in English on the social media platform X late on Saturday.
“Yes to independence of New Caledonia! Yes to independence to French Polynesia! Yes to independence of Corsica! Yes to independence of the Basque Country! Yes to independence of French Guinea!” he added, apparently confusing it with French Guiana.
Macron, in an interview to France 5 broadcast on Wednesday, stated that France could take the step during a UN conference in New York in June, saying he hoped this would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries.
“We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron said.
“I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognize Israel in turn, which many of them do not do.”
Screw you! Yes to independence of New Caledonia! Yes to independence to French Polynesia! Yes to independence of Corsica! Yes to independence of the Basque Country! Yes to independence of French Guinea! Stop the neo imperialism of France in west Africa! https://t.co/Vwa3a8fN2c
— Yair Netanyahu???????? (@YairNetanyahu) April 12, 2025
Later Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the language of his son’s critique while denouncing Macron’s backing for Palestinian statehood. He also sniped, as Yair had done, at France’s rejection of independence for territories it controls.
“I love my son Yair, a true Zionist worried for the future of the country. Like every citizen, he is also entitled to his personal opinion, though the style of his response to President Macron’s tweets calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state is unacceptable to me,” Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew on X.
The premier said Macron was making “a terrible mistake” by “continuing to advance the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land whose ambition is the destruction of the State of Israel.” Noting that neither Hamas nor the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority have condemned the October 7, 2023, terror atrocities, he said this testified to their attitude to the Jewish state.
“We will not risk our existence because of illusions detached from reality and we will not accept moral preaching about establishing a Palestinian state that will endanger Israel’s existence from those who are opposed to giving independence to Corsica, New Caledonia, French Guyana and additional territories,” the prime minister added.
Hamas has welcomed Macron’s statement.
Macron’s remarks also sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France, prompting him to issue a clarification on Friday.
“I support the legitimate right of Palestinians to a state and to peace, just as I support the right of Israelis to live in peace and security, both recognized by their neighbors,” he wrote on X.
“I am doing everything I can with our partners to reach this goal of peace. We truly need it,” he said.
Macron’s X post did not mention unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
Yair Netanyahu has been residing in Miami, Florida, for the past two years, most of that time being spent at the residence of billionaire Simon Falic, a close friend of the Netanyahus.
The unemployed 33-year-old is known in Israel for his provocative social media posts, which often invoke conspiracy theories. Courts have ordered him to pay hundreds of thousands of shekels in damages in multiple libel lawsuits filed against him by public figures in Israel.
Relations between Israel and France have deteriorated in recent months.
France has long championed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which saw Hamas-led invaders kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251.
But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonizing Israel, which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.
France would be the most significant European power to recognize a Palestinian state, a move the United States has also long resisted. Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia all recognized a Palestinian state last year, drawing condemnation from Israel.
