Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Office clarified on Wednesday night that Netanyahu had not been aware of a recent post on Facebook against President Reuven Rivlin by Dr. Ran Baratz, who was earlier in the day appointed as Netanyahu’s new media adviser and head of Public Diplomacy and Media.
In the post, dated October 25, Baratz mocked Rivlin and wrote that “the fact that President Rivlin flies economy and shakes hands [with fellow passengers] mainly means that he is marginal character so there's no danger to his life.”
In the statement, Netanyahu’s office made clear that he sees Baratz’s remarks as inappropriate. It added that Baratz, who was asked to clarify his remarks to Netanyahu, told the Prime Minister that his new public role requires him to act with restraint and statehood, things to which he was not committed as an individual, and which were reflected in the Facebook post.