Netanyahu's son hides out in luxury US apartment to escape army draft

The son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hiding out in an expensive rented apartment in a high-rise building in Florida, Britain’s Daily Mail has reported. The newspaper published photos of Yair Netanyahu, 32, lounging in a luxury apartment rented for $5,000 a month, with official Israeli security personnel guarding him.

The Mail pointed out that Netanyahu’s son is qualified to serve in the Israeli occupation army as a reservist until he is 40 years old, but rather than be drafted to serve in the Gaza Strip, he has opted to stay in Hallandale Beach outside Miami.

“His father has called upon a record number of reservists to wage a brutal war against Hamas and purge the Gaza Strip of Jew-hating terrorists [sic],” said the right-wing newspaper. “But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s older son Yair looks in no hurry to join their ranks as he’s seen loafing around a luxury Florida condo complex.”

The newspaper quoted Uri Misgav, a journalist for Israel’s left of centre Haaretz and a long-time Netanyahu critic. “He likes to wage war, but via social media,” said Misgav. “He is the lazy bum son who is partying in Miami while his Prime Minister father urges ordinary Israelis to sacrifice their own sons and lives.”

Reservists who left their studies, jobs and vacations in the US to head to Israel also blasted Netanyahu Junior for not doing the same. One critic said that, “It is embarrassing, more than anything, that such a prominent public figure doesn’t give a sh*t.”

Yair Netanyahu apparently spent most of last year in the US and was looking to gain a residency permit before Operation Al-Aqsa Flood happened on 7 October. The Mail quoted close sources as saying that he is being guarded around the clock by two armed agents from Israel’s Shin Bet security service. “They accompany him to the gym, pool and whenever he leaves the swank high rise.”

READ: Report: Israel elite soldiers refuse to return to Gaza