Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked to boost his son’s security detail in recent days, Hebrew media reported on Tuesday, amid reports that Iran could seek to assassinate high-profile Israelis abroad in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
According to the reports, in recent days, Netanyahu has sought to heighten the safety measures already in place for his son Yair, who has lived abroad in Miami, Florida since March 2023.
The request was submitted to the Advisory Committee for Personal Security by the director-general of Netanyahu’s office Yossi Shelley, Channel 12 reported, adding that Shelley cited concerns that the junior Netanyahu would be targeted by Iran as the reason for his request.
Speaking to Channel 12, however, unnamed security officials said that the level of security granted to Israelis abroad was derived based on the determined threat level and periodic situational assessments. As such, they said that there was no indication that Yair Netanyahu was facing any substantial threats, and as such there was no plan for the Shin Bet to increase his security detail.
Following the reports in Hebrew media, the Prime Minister’s Office denied that any requests pertaining to Yair’s security had been submitted.
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The controversial son of the prime minister has faced scrutiny in recent months due to what many consider to be the excessive level of personal security that he receives.
Yair Netanyahu, son of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a court hearing on a defamation suit filed by the Crime Minister movement, in Tel Aviv, November 29, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
In March of this year, it was reported that securing his stay in an extravagant apartment complex in Miami, with a chauffeur and a pair of bodyguards from the Shin Bet’s elite Unit 730, costs the state an estimated NIS 200,000 ($55,000) a month.
It is unclear why his security is covered by Unit 730, which is tasked with guarding only the seven top public officials in Israel: the president, prime minister, defense minister, foreign minister, speaker of the Knesset, opposition leader and Supreme Court president. Other protected people receive their security detail from the Prime Minister’s Office’s lower-ranking Magen unit.
Yair, a prolific right-wing agitator, was granted an additional year of Shin Bet coverage last month, along with Netanyahu’s wife Sara and their other son Avner, who resides in Israel. The extension was granted despite a reported recommendation from the advisory committee that it be extended by only six months or until the end of the war in Gaza, at which point it would be taken over by Magen.
The decision to grant Shin Bet protection to Netanyahu’s wife and children was initially approved in March 2023 after hundreds of anti-government protesters massed outside a Tel Aviv hair salon while Sara was inside, leading her to claim that she had feared her life was in danger.
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