It has been reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair Netanyahu changed his name to “Yonatan Hon”.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, while the name “Yair Netanyahu” was included in the official documents issued in December 2024, this year the same identification information was recorded in the name of “Yonatan Hon”. It was stated that the address in the documents was “Balfour 0”.
HE HAD USED A SIMILAR SURNAME BEFORE
It is known that Yair Netanyahu has introduced himself as “Yair Hoon” on his social media accounts in the past.
It is stated that the surname “Hoon” comes from the surname used by his mother Sara Netanyahu’s father, Shmuel, before his family changed his surname to Ben Artzi.
BUSINESS CONNECTIONS IN THE USA ARE ON THE AGENDA
The news noted that the name change took place at a time when the Netanyahu surname was increasingly associated with political and legal debates in the United States and internationally.
Yair Netanyahu has come to the public agenda from time to time due to his business connections in the USA and his family’s relationships with wealthy business people in the past.
It has been reported in the past that Yair Netanyahu has established relationships with various companies and entities in the United States, some of which are linked to far-right circles.
NETANYAHU IS NOT THE FIRST IN HIS FAMILY
Yair Netanyahu is not the first person in his family to change his name or surname.
His brother Avner Netanyahu also changed his name to “Avi Segal” about five years ago, according to Haaretz. It was claimed that Avner bought a flat worth 502 thousand pounds in Oxford, England, under this name and that he did this to stay away from public attention.
“Segal” was the maiden name of Benjamin Netanyahu’s mother, Tzila.
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU ALSO USED A DIFFERENT NAME
Benjamin Netanyahu also used the name “Ben Nitai” when he lived in the USA in the 1980s. Netanyahu later explained this choice by saying that he was considering settling in the United States at that time.
The family’s history of changing names goes back further. Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Mileikowsky, changed his surname to Benzion Netanyahu after migrating from Poland to Palestine.
This practice is considered to be part of the widespread Zionist tradition of the period, in which Hebrew names were preferred over surnames of European origin.
