Netanyahu’s son ‘hopes’ elderly leftists die from coronavirus after protesting against his father

Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israel’s Prime Minister, tweeted on Thursday during a demonstration against his father that he hopes elderly leftists die from Covid-19.

In the now-deleted tweet, Netanyahu junior replied to a photo of the protest posted by left-wing Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, saying that he hopes: “the elderly people who die following this protest will be from your bloc”.

Horowitz had captioned his photo: “Very powerful protest tonight at Habima square. Fighting against corruption. Struggling for democracy.”

The Prime Minister was quick to retract his son’s tweet, releasing a statement saying: “In the fight against coronavirus there are no blocs, and there must not be. The prime minister is working around the clock to secure the well-being and safety of all Israeli citizens, without exception.”

Hundreds demonstrated against Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, claiming the long-serving premier has become authoritarian.

Israel’s lockdown conditions still permit protests – this an anti-Netanyahu protest in Tel Aviv today https://t.co/1UFcNVteCz

— Josh Dell (@JoshDell) April 16, 2020

The protesters, belonging to the so-called Black Flag movement, expressed anger at attempts to curb political demonstrations due to coronavirus, as well as dismay at the Knesset’s standstill following three consecutive rounds of elections.

Netanyahu’s trial for corruption has been postponed due to the pandemic, which many of his opponents say is an attempt to buy more time to secure his immunity.

Yair Netanyahu, 28, is no stranger to controversies over his openly antagonistic anti-liberal Twitter feed.

Just last month, he was sued 250,000 shekels (£55,665) for libel and slander and ordered to pay another 37,000 shekels (£8,238) in legal costs, after posting false stories about journalist Avi Alkalay, whose news site had been covering the corruption scandal.

Netanyahu junior regularly takes to the social media to express his anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim views, tweeting last year that Palestine has never existed because there is “no P in Arabic”, and in another instance that he’d “prefer” for all Muslims to leave Israel.