Netanyahu's scandal-ridden son defends Facebook post suggesting all Muslims should leave Israel

The son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended a controversial Facebook post in which he implied that all Muslims should leave the Jewish state. The initial post prompted backlash on social media.

“There will not be peace here until: 1. All the Jews leave the land of Israel. 2. All the Muslims leave the land of Israel. I hope it's the second,” Yair Netanyahu wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

He went on to state that Iceland and Japan don't have terror attacks because “there is no Muslim population there.”

The 27-year-old defended his thoughts on Saturday, asking why the same people who have been calling to “evacuate the settlers and establish a Palestinian state free of Jews” were angered by his words.

Many on social media were indeed unimpressed with the younger Netanyahu's Facebook posts, with one person instead stating that he should be the one to leave Israel.

Facebook temporarily blocked Yair’s page following the critical post, Israeli media said. 
The social media giant didn’t release any statement on the ban. As of Monday, his page with nearly 23,000 followers is active. 

Ben White, author of the book ‘Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel’, questioned who “radicalized” the prime minister's son.

And another person referred to him as the “third Trump brother.”

Yair Netanyahu is no stranger to the spotlight, or to controversy. In May, he came under fire for posting “F*** Turkey” on Instagram amid a diplomatic row between Israel and Ankara. 

In January, recordings were released which included Netanyahu, then 25, and his friends talking about spending thousands of shekels for private dances from strippers. He also appeared to offer his friends sexual favors from a woman he was in an intimate relationship with in exchange for money. Some Israeli media outlets have implied that those comments were made in jest while inebriated.

The same tapes, recorded by Netanyahu's then-driver, also revealed Netanyahu asking his friend to “spot him” some money because the elder Netanyahu had secured an “awesome” gas deal that would benefit the friend's father. 

In 2017, Yair posted a meme which was deemed anti-Semitic on his Facebook page, which he eventually deleted following backlash. However, the meme did get the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and can still be seen on the controversial figure's Twitter feed. 

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