Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words in responding to a report by Channel 10 journalist Raviv Drucker Monday evening about the prime minister's son Yair. Drucker reported that Yair Netanyahu was supposedly close to Australian billionaire James Packer, who plied him with favors -- including free lodging abroad -- in exchange for access to the prime minister. Drucker reported that Packer spent time with Netanyahu and his son at the U.N. General Assembly in New York in 2015, and that Packer was interested in securing Israeli residency to ease his tax burden. In a post on his Facebook page, the prime minister wrote: "Congratulations to the gossip show 'Good Evening with Guy Pines' for adding Raviv Drucker to the program's team. After diving into the submarine matter and coming up empty-handed, Drucker has turned to investing new international fictions. Drucker's desperate search for conspiracies is already an embarrassment to everyone except his handlers at the New Israel Fund." Netanyahu continued: "We are adding our response, which the same Channel 10 that preaches freedom of expression censored this evening, as it usually does: The desperate and pathetic attempt by politician Raviv Drucker to slander the prime minister through an unceasing stream of lies and brainwashing is designed to assassinate the character of the prime minister and his family. This is nothing new from Raviv Drucker. It is transparent and well known by the entire public. "It's sad to see that Drucker has no interest in basic integrity or fairness. From daily persecution of the prime minister and his wife, he is now moving on to the prime minister's sons, who are private people and have not chosen the public life. It's interesting that the children of other senior politicians, including the children of former presidents and prime ministers (the children of former Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert, for example, could supply a fascinating probe) are of less interest to Drucker and his backers in the New Israel Fund. "In general, the Israeli media permits itself to methodically slander only the children of Prime Minister Netanyahu, ever since they were young (such as an imitation of Yair, then 3 years old, on [the satirical program] 'Hartzufim,' which was ignored and not condemned by the media, and the 'children's rights crusaders' also ignored it and remained silent). "It's sad to see how Drucker always manages to reach new lows of malicious and shameful journalism, even by the standards of the already biased Israeli media. Yair [Netanyahu] is a private citizen and a student who owes nothing to any journalist. Mr. Packer is a close friend of the family and of Yair's, and as such has been present several times at the prime minister's speeches abroad. Yair has the right to stay with friends, just as Drucker does when he is abroad. We regret that Drucker is once again broadcasting sensationalist gossip that twists reality and is based on total lies and half-truths, all in the guise of a supposed 'serious investigative piece,'" Netanyahu concluded.
