Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a lengthy statement Wednesday evening pushing back on a wave of recent criticism of his wife, Sara, and son, Yair, by leading right-wing media commentators.
The criticism of Sara and Yair Netanyahu was spearheaded by Channel 14 firebrand anchor Yinon Magal and Channel 12 news analyst Amit Segal, who both spoke out against the premier’s closest family members for allegedly interfering in political matters as well as the controversial nomination of Yair to a high paying job with the World Zionist Congress.
“For years, the media channels have not stopped slandering my beloved wife Sara,” Netanyahu said on X. “Sara is a woman of valor, the mainstay of my life and family. She is a true heroine.”
Describing her various roles and volunteer jobs, Netanyahu praised his wife for her public service, adding that she “assists me and the State of Israel greatly in meetings with world leaders, who recognize her unique abilities and wisdom.”
“[US President Donald] Trump calls her ‘Bibi’s secret weapon,’” he continued.
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“She does all this out of a deep mission and loyalty to national values, with inconceivable strength of spirit,” Netanyahu added. “This strength of spirit is needed doubly so because over thirty years, in a systematic and cruel manner, she absorbs endless slanders and fictitious lawsuits in an ongoing campaign of character assassination, brainwashing, and trampling of who she truly is.”
“All this happens only because she is my wife.”
Sara Netanyahu, center, and her husband Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a state ceremony marking the first Hebrew calendar anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, October 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)
“The same happens to my son Yair,” Netanyahu went on, saying: “He acts vigorously, with great talent and commitment, in the global public diplomacy campaign for the State of Israel. He faces hostile attacks but continues to fight for the justice of our path out of deep patriotic love for the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and our state.”
“Like Sara, Yair too is relentlessly smeared only for being a son of the Netanyahu family,” he said.
The premier then hit out at Magal and Segal, accusing them of “joining in attacks against my wife and son.”
“I don’t understand their obsession with hurting them again and again,” he said. “Haven’t they slandered Sara and Yair enough that Yinon and Amit feel the need to join the venomous choir of evil against them?”
Netanyahu then declared that “any harm to my family, which gives me the strength and support to continue leading, is harm to me.”
“Enough with the slanders, the defamation, and the lies against my family,” he said. “I am proud of my wife and son who stand heroically on the front lines and remain steadfast even when the poisonous fire is aimed straight at them.”
Sara Netanyahu, right, and her son Yair watch from the gallery as the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not in picture) is swon in at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 29, 2022. (Amir Cohen/Pool/AFP)
Firing back, Segal wrote on his Telegram account, “the issue is who runs the country at the end of the day.”
“Over a million citizens voted six times for Likud led by Benjamin Netanyahu, not led by Yair. It’s so simple,” Segal added.
Criticism of alleged political interference from Netanyahu’s wife and son has persisted for years, taking on renewed life earlier this month after a report that Yair was pressuring his father to reject the appointment of Itai Ofir as the next military advocate general after the resignation of Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi.
According to Channel 12, Yair told his father it was “an appointment from within the legal junta.”
According to the network, the premier’s son cited multiple grievances against Ofir, claiming that he was a fellow of a philanthropy group criticized by government officials for promoting “radically left-wing” views; that he worked alongside Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara — whom the government is working to oust; and that his wife, who was appointed as a judge by former justice minister Ayelet Shaked, had ruled in favor of demonstrators leading the protests against the government’s judicial overhaul.
While Netanyahu himself supported the appointment, Segal took a swipe at Yair, saying he should have no hand in influencing appointments or policy whatsoever.
Journalist Amit Segal at a Conference of the “Besheva” group in Jerusalem, on February 24, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Magal also joined in, saying: “With all due respect to Yair and Sara… I suggest that they stop interfering in the conduct of the State of Israel. This is not a family that runs the State of Israel. I suggest that they stop poisoning and creating a virtual reality here.”
For years, media outlets have reported that Sara Netanyahu has played a key role in nearly all senior political and security appointments and dismissals made by her husband, though the prime minister denied that she has been involved in the processes.
Yair Netanyahu, who has spent much of the past two years living in Miami, Florida, is best known for his firebrand social media presence and association with far-right European and American politicians and figures. In recent months, he has denounced the current IDF chief of staff, called Qatar’s leader a modern-day Hitler, blamed the Israeli left for major forest fires, and castigated the president of France.
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