Israeli leaders should not fear Yair Netanyahu’s relationship


Love is in the air this week for everyone except Yair Netanyahu.

Reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 23-year-old son, Yair Netanyahu, is dating non-Jewish Norwegian Sandra Leikanger started a media frenzy last week, according to BBC. Though Prime Minister Netanyahu’s bureau dismissed accusations of the alleged relationship, insisting that the two students studying at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya are nothing more than college classmates, it was not enough to prevent many in the Israeli government from condemning the relationship.  The issue of whom Yair Netanyahu does or does not date, however, should be of no concern to anyone — especially Israel’s public leaders.

Many Israeli Knesset members were also part of the public outcry against the relationship. Leaders from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in Israel denounced the relationship, dubbing his decision not a personal matter but rather a “symbol of the Jewish people.” Even the younger Netanyahu’s uncle, Hagai Ben-Artzi, publicly spoke out against the alleged relationship, denouncing it as an affront to the Jewish people.

“This is the most awful thing that is threatening and was a threat throughout the history of the Jewish people,” Ben-Artzi told an ultra-orthadox website, according to the BBC. “More awful than leaving Israel is marriage with a gentile. If this happens, God forbid, I’ll bury myself I don’t know where. I’ll walk in the streets and tear off my hair — and here this is happening.”

Intermarriage, or the marriage between a Jew and a non-Jew, has long been a subject of controversy in the Jewish community. Since Jewish law requires that the religion be passed down through the mother, the children of a Jewish man and a non-Jewish woman would not be considered Jewish — something that is seen as a critical threat to the survival of the religious community.

Netanyahu’s dating choices, however, are not threatening, nor should they be debated in the public spotlight. The fact of the matter is that Netanyahu and Leikanger are far from walking down the aisle, and even if they decided to marry, there wouldn’t be anything unusual about it. In fact, in the United States, more than four out of five marriages involving non-Orthodox Jews are intermarriages, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

In addition, Netanyahu wouldn’t be the first child of an Israeli leader to date a non-Jew. Amos Ben-Gurion, the son of Israel’s first Prime Minister and primary founding father David Ben-Gurion, married a non-Jew. Amos Ben-Gurion’s son, Alon Ben-Gurion, also went on to marry a non-Jew. Even Netanyahu’s own second wife, Fleur Cates, was not originally Jewish, though she later converted.

Many of Netanyahu’s more vocal critics argue that his decisions should reflect those of the son of a political family in the Jewish state. And though the issue of intermarriage is one of major concern in the Jewish community, marriage should not be an issue in this case. Not only are Leikanger and Netanyahu not yet in the process of getting married, but their entire relationship is also unconfirmed. Rather than jump to conclusions and blast a relationship that might not even exist, the public should instead recognize that they’re talking about college students.

Like all children in the public spotlight, Netanyahu will likely withstand much public scrutiny in the future. Just as the public watched the evolution of Prince William’s relationship with the then non-royal Kate Middleton, this will probably be one of the many instances in which the people weigh in on the private decisions of their leaders. Such is the price of being in the public eye, especially as the child in an important political family. This predictable media frenzy, however, does not excuse Israel’s leading political figures publicly commenting on the supposed relationship. There are certainly more important things facing Israel — diplomatic relations with Iran and the on-going negotiations with Palestinians — than an alleged relationship between college students.

 

Yasmeen Serhan is a sophomore majoring in international relations. She is also the Editorial Director of the Daily Trojan

 

1 reply
  1. JohnWV
    JohnWV says:

    Israel’s Rabbinical Authority sorts Jew from goy with emphasis on maternal bloodlines and marriage. Those adjudged not quite Jewish are deported, incarcerated, or assigned one of the multiple levels of “citizenship” which may restrict everything from license plate color to living location, due process and employment.

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