Yair Netanyahu has criticized a report by News 2, centering on audio in which the son of the prime minister told the son of gas tycoon Kobi Maimon that the prime minister arranged $20 billion for his father, two weeks before the signing of an agreement between the government and owners of Israel's offshore natural gas rigs. Yair said, "Tonight I watched a shameful yellow story that showed illegal tapes from a conversation that took place two and a half years ago. In a nighttime conversation, under the influence of alcohol, I said nonsense about women and other nonsense that should not have been said."
Netanyahu continued "These things do not represent who I am, the values on which I was raised and what I believe in. I regret it and apologize if anyone is hurt by it. Similarly, the things I said to Nir Maimon were a bad joke and I was hesitant about it. I was never interested in the gas pipeline and had no idea about its contents."