Key facts
- Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has changed his name to Yonatan Hon.
- The name change was reported by Haaretz, citing tax-withholding approvals from December 2024.
- Yair Netanyahu had previously used the surname 'Hoon' on social media, which was his mother's family's original surname.
- His brother, Avner, previously changed his name to Avi Segal.
- Benjamin Netanyahu and his father, Benzion Netanyahu, also changed their surnames.
- The practice of name changes is linked to a wider Zionist tradition of adopting Hebrew names.
Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has reportedly changed his name to Yonatan Hon, according to a report by Haaretz. The Israeli newspaper cited tax-withholding approvals from December 2024 that initially carried his previous name, Yair Netanyahu, but subsequent identifying details this year appeared under the new name, including a fictional address.
Yair Netanyahu has previously used a similar surname on social media, identifying himself as 'Yair Hoon.' 'Hoon' was the original surname of his mother Sara’s father, Shmuel, before the family changed it to Ben Artzi. The reported name change comes as the Netanyahu family faces increasing political and legal scrutiny both internationally and in the United States.
Benjamin Netanyahu has become a controversial figure in U.S. politics, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against him. Yair has also faced scrutiny over his business dealings in the U.S. and past controversies. In 2018, a recording surfaced in which Yair appeared to discuss a gas deal that benefited a tycoon, allegedly facilitated by his father.
This is not the first instance of name changes within the Netanyahu family. Yair's brother, Avner, reportedly changed his name to Avi Segal about five years ago. Under the name Avi Segal, he purchased an apartment in Oxford, England, for £502,000 ($672,000) in cash, reportedly to avoid attention. 'Segal' was the original surname of Benjamin Netanyahu’s mother, Tzila, before she married Benzion Netanyahu.
Benjamin Netanyahu himself used the name Ben Nitai while living in the United States in the 1980s. The practice of name changes extends further back to Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Mileikowsky, who changed his name to Benzion Netanyahu after moving from Poland. This reflected a broader Zionist practice of adopting Hebrew names over European ones during the early 20th century, as settlers sought to establish a new identity in historic Palestine. Several prominent Israeli leaders, including David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett, Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon, also adopted Hebrew names, having been born with European or different surnames.