IDF punishes Yair Netanyahu for tardiness

Prime minister's son confined to base for 10 days for being late; sentence shortened after appeal

Hanan Greenberg|Published: 07.28.10 , 20:18

Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister's son, was recently handed a 10-day detention sentence after failing to show up at the IDF Spokesperson's Office headquarters, where he serves.

A senior officer at the base decided to mitigate his punishment, and shaved two days off after Netanyahu handed in an appeal.

Yair Netanyahu enlisted a few months ago, and since then has been serving close to Jerusalem. A few days ago his commander reported that he was late for an assignment, and attempts at locating him failed. Finally he showed up, a number of hours tardy.

Netanyahu subsequently underwent a disciplinary hearing, where he was sentenced to ten days of confinement to his base. But young Netanyahu appealed for a mitigation of punishment, and the IDF spokesperson's deputy shortened the sentence by two days.

Military officials told Ynet the prime minister's son was being treated just like any other soldier. "He was tried for an incident for which any other soldier would have been tried and received adequate punishment," one source said.

"The positive response to the appeal for shortening the punishment was given after Netanyahu had already served a large portion of his sentence, and in light of the fact that the move is accepted and is used with many other soldiers, even in more severe cases."