Yair Netanyahu flew to Israel on Wing of Zion, hid in PM’s section — report
Haaretz reporter says PM’s office declining to comment on whether premier’s son paid fare, went through passport control
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair was “smuggled” onto the Wing of Zion, Israel’s new version of Air Force One, on Saturday night to be flown back to Israel with his parents, according to a report by a Haaretz reporter who was part of the press corps on the trip.
The plane is divided into four quarters, with the prime minister’s section at the front. Reporters who joined the Wing of Zion‘s first trip carrying the prime minister last week were told they were not allowed to go to the front of the plane under any circumstances.
According to Uri Misgav at Haaretz, the younger Netanyahu boarded the prime minister’s section of the plane and was hidden there from the reporters and the majority of the prime minister’s entourage for the duration of the flight.
“I don’t know if he went through passport control… I hope for his sake he did,” wrote Misgav in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“Yair is supposed to pay full airfare out of pocket to be flown in the VIP section,” Misgav added, saying that he estimated the fare to be at least NIS 10,000.
Misgav wrote that he intended to send letters of complaint to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the state attorney, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman and others on Monday apprising them of the matter.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to respond to Misgav’s request for comment.
An unnamed source told the Ynet news site that the younger Netanyahu would pay the same fare journalists on the flight were charged for a one-way ticket, $575, and added that this was not the first time he had traveled on his father’s plane during official trips.
As part of his official visit to the US last week, Netanyahu met with former president Donald Trump at his home in Florida. The timing of the meeting was a source of confusion as it was moved multiple times before settling on Friday, at Netanyahu’s request, Trump said.
The visit to Flordia coincided with Yair’s 33rd birthday, allowing his parents to spend the weekend in Florida.
The younger Netanyahu has been in Miami for much of the past year. Ynet said he was seen in Jerusalem on Tuesday, surrounded by bodyguards.
