A run-of-the-mill picture of a family in the Golan, known internationally as the Golan Heights? The area is part of Syria, but has been illegally occupied and settled by Israelis since Israel’s 1967 attack on Syria and other neighboring Arab states, also known as the Six Day War. Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981 is not recognized by the United Nations and the international community. Only the United States, during the 2016-20 presidency of Donald Trump, has recognized Israel’s illegal claim over the territory.
If one did not know who and where they were, one might think them an ordinary, middle-of-the-road family enjoying a ramble in the countryside, and that the father is perhaps a teacher and not a person of interest to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding war crimes. But that is precisely what Benjamin Netanyahu is. As of late May 2024, the ICC has applied for arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, along with three Hamas commanders, for war crimes committed during Israel’s assault on Gaza and the attack on Israel by Hamas in October 2023.
You might also not suspect that both the father and mother are embroiled in state level corruption charges, with possible jail time if proven. Or that one son, Yair, who the Times of Israel calls a “spoiled dauphin”, is known “for his far-right views and combative social media presence, which has landed him in court on a number of occasions.” (It is somewhat apt he is pictured on the far right in the image above). He has also been “sued multiple times and ordered to pay out hundreds of thousands of shekels in compensation”. And according to the Jerusalem Post, a right wing Israeli publication, Yair also called Israeli “democracy” demonstrators terrorists and Nazis.
Otherwise they look like a nice family.