Kafe Knesset for September 11
Neo-Nazis embrace Yair Netanyahu: The Netanyahus consider their oldest son, Yair, to be their “heir to the throne.” But if we had to compare him to the British Royal Family, he would be more like the “spare heir” Prince Harry. What the two now have in common is that they both have made Nazi-related blunders. On Saturday night, Yair posted a sort of conspiracy theory flow chart on Facebook, which he labeled “the food chain.” It depicts George Soros controlling the world, followed by lizard people, known as “Reptilians,” and an Illuminati / Free Masons figure, who in turn control former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak is followed by leaders of the weekly anti Netanyahu protests, failed Labor candidate Eldad Yaniv and former Prime Minister’s Residence superintendent Meni Naftali. The graphic came from a Facebook page of extreme right-wing memes that call leftists “homo-kaki-shit.” Soros and Barak are superimposed over an anti-Semitic caricature of “Shlomo Shekelberg,” for those familiar with the Jew-hating meme oeuvre. The Israeli media went nuts over the Prime Minister’s son spreading anti-Semitic tropes. Of course the opposition did, as well. Barak said that Yair needs psychological help, and Yair responded by basically calling Barak a drunk. Meanwhile, David Duke tweeted praising Yair, and The Daily Stormer was also very pleased with him. On Sunday, after Bibi’s statement to the press at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, a reporter asked him about it, and the Prime Minister only said “this isn’t a press conference.” Last night, without a word of explanation, Yair deleted the post.
Bibi south of the border: The Prime Minister took off last night to an 11 day journey across the Atlantic. The trip will be a breather from a few hectic days of constant reports and developments in his and his wife’s criminal affairs. For the coming week, Netanyahu will be focused on making history. Bibi is the first sitting PM to visit Latin America, as he has been declaring proudly for the past few days. The trip will conclude in NYC where Netanyahu is set to meet President Trump and give his annual UN General Assembly speech. The trip is an opportunity to try and shift the agenda from scandals and investigations to diplomatic achievements and strategic discussions. Yesterday, before embarking on the El Al plane en route to Buenos Aires, the PM and his wife gave the traditional pre-flight statement to the media. Netanyahu officially announced he would be meeting President Trump (calling him “my friend”, twice), but the assembled media were more interested to hear from Sarah. In a rare statement, and her first response to the Attorney-General’s decision to indict her in the “Residence Expenses” affair, Sarah Netanyahu gave a peaceful monologue, expressing her gratitude to “thousands, thousands, thousands of Israeli citizens and people around the world who are supporting, helping and encouraging me. On good days and on bad days, your help and support gives me the strength to continue to do the real things I do for all those who need help. I try and try to do as much as I can. I just wish everyone, all of us – to have a good year. Just be good to all of us.”
Justice never rests: But even though the PM is away, the show, as they say, must go on. Police investigations continue. The gag order on the testimony of Bibi’s former chief of staff Ari Harow is set to expire next week, and if it is indeed removed, new details are expected to emerge about Netanyahu’s alleged criminal affairs. Meanwhile, Haaretz reported today that Netanyahu tried to set Harow up with a job at Channel 10, after supporting the sale of the channel to Russian-born businessman Len Blavatnik. Blavatnik was interrogated by Israeli Police last month in London. The Channel 10 deal and Netanyahu’s contacts with Blavatnik are part of “Case 1000,” in which Netanyahu is suspected of receiving gifts and favors from LA producer Arnon Milchan and other businessmen. According to the report, Netanyahu asked Blavatnik’s people to appoint Harow, who was unemployed at the time, as chairman of the channel 10 news company. That appointment did not work out because of regulatory difficulties. A year later, another of Netanyahu’s close associates, Rami Sadan, was appointed to the post, but that appointment was canceled after Sadan made remarks against the Shas party and sparked a storm.