Netanyahu Criticized for Having Son Attend His Passover Seder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being criticized for having his son attend his Passover seder while Israel is on lockdown throughout the holiday.

Netanyahu released a video on April 8 in which he can be seen sitting at a table with his 25-year-old son, Avner, to his left. The video was filmed before April 8; Netanyahu had been in quarantine after Health Minister Yaakov Litzman tested positive for coronavirus on April 2.

According to Channel 13, a source from Netanyahu’s office told them that Avner has been staying at an apartment in the same compound as Netanyahu’s residence while adhering to social distancing measures. Netanyahu’s office also told Haaretz that Avner’s girlfriend “hasn’t visited her parents for the past five weeks or went to work.”

However, The Jerusalem Post’s Lahav Harkov pointed out that Netanyahu’s other son, Yair, had tweeted that Avner lives “across the street and only leaves to see his parents.”

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just leave our apartments to see our parents?” she added in a follow-up tweet.

Btw, the Prime Minister's Office said that Avner lives in an apartment in the same "compound" as the residence – the existence of which no one has ever been informed before. But Yair Netanyahu tweeted that Avner rents an apt across the street and only leaves to see his parents.

— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) April 9, 2020

Wouldn't it be great if we could all just leave our apartments to see our parents?

— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) April 9, 2020

Pro-Israel activist Arsen Ostrovsky tweeted, “There was no excuse for this. We all had to make sacrifices, including many having Seders alone or without loved ones, at instructions of PM Netanyahu. He ought to lead by example here.”

As it should. There was no excuse for this. We all had to make sacrifices, including many having Seders alone or without loved ones, at instructions of PM Netanyahu. He ought to lead by example here. https://t.co/DeCPgRlWtd

— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 9, 2020

Israel’s lockdown measures banning intercity travel are set to expire on April 10; after Passover ends on April 15 the Israeli government plans to start gradually easing social distancing measures.