In a recorded conversation from 2015 that was aired on Monday evening on Israel's Channel 2 News, Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alluded to his father helping gas tycoon Kobi Maimon in a deal worth billions of US dollars and spoke about strippers and his former girlfriend in an offensive manner.In response to the aired story, Yair Netanyahu said the following: “Tonight I watched a shameful and sensationalist news story that presented unlawful and secret recordings from a conversation that took place two-and-a-half years ago. In an evening conversation [conducted] under the influence of alcohol I said ridiculous things about women and other foolish things that were better left unsaid.”“These words do not represent who I am, the values I was raised on or what I believe in. I regret [saying] them and apologize if anyone was hurt by them.” The young Netanyahu also said that what he said to Nir Maimon, son of Kobi Maimon, was only a “bad joke meant to roast him, as any sensible person understands.”The young Netanyahu said to the young Maimon: "My dad arranged for your dad a $20 billion windfall and you can’t spot me NIS 400?’’ He went on to say in his statement that “I never paid any attention to the gas policy [of Israel] and had no clue about any of the details regarding it.”The Netanyahu family called the airing of the recording “persecution, bloodshed and shaming.”They stated that the recording was “edited in a manipulative [way] and was carried out in a shameful and illegal manner by a driver employed by the office of the prime minister.”
