JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself no fan of the Israeli media, distanced himself from comments made by his son this week describing the press, liberal NGOs and left-wing politicians as “traitors.”
In a Facebook post quoted by Ynet News, Yair Netanyahu wrote that those he accuses had hardened their hearts toward “terror victims, settlers or victims of the (African) infiltrators, while on the other hand their heart is full of compassion toward any Palestinian rioter wounded on the Gaza border. They are traitors [in Hebrew, bogdim]! It’s time to say the simple truth, according to any basic, human standard, which is acceptable to every nation in history. They’re traitors to all intents and purposes.”
The prime minister decried his son’s comments in a post on the social media platform, writing that he disapproved of the use of the term traitor in political discourse. The elder Netanyahu complained that his critics, including “left-wing protesters and others,” had used the same language to describe him.
“The media didn’t say a word about that,” he wrote. “It appears that in their opinion, it’s okay to use the term ‘traitor’ as long as it’s directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu. What the right-wing is not allowed to do, the left-wing should not be allowed to do either. Enough with the double standards.”
Yair Netanyahu is no stranger to courting controversy online. Last year he made waves when he posted an apparently anti-Semitic meme that showed the liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros and lizard people controlling the world, prompting former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to tweet his approval.
