Yair Netanyahu changes name to Yonatan Hun, following family pattern

The move follows a pattern of name changes within the Netanyahu family. Benjamin Netanyahu used the name "Ben Nitai" while studying in the United States, adopting it because he planned to move there and wanted a name that was easier to pronounce and more commercially appealing, the report said.

Yair's younger brother Avner Netanyahu also used an alternative identity abroad. During a property registration in the United Kingdom, he was listed as "Avi Avner Segal." The apartment near London was purchased in 2022 for £502,500 with no mortgage or loan registered, according to Britain's land registry records reported by Ynet.

Around the same time, Avner enrolled for a master's degree at Regent's Park College in Oxford, registering as Avi Segal. The college's internal profile listed him under that name, and his institutional email address used it as well. Segal was the original surname of Tzila, Benjamin Netanyahu's mother and the brothers' grandmother, before she married Benzion Netanyahu.

Yair Netanyahu has lived in the United States in recent years and maintains a public presence through social media under his original name. The reported change has drawn attention because it extends a broader family pattern of using alternative names for personal, historical or privacy-related reasons.