--- description: A former aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a derogatory slur to describe the U.S. ambassador to Israel title: Former Netanyahu Aide Calls U.S. Ambassador 'Little Jew Boy' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e2130200ba29cac/698879b2524fc08400df6590/benjamin-netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former Netanyahu Aide Calls U.S. Ambassador 'Little Jew Boy'  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2016 1:53 PM CUT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Jan. 3, 2016. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Jan. 3, 2016.Amir Cohen—Reuters  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2016 1:53 PM CUT A former aide to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu](http://time.com/3822851/benjamin-netanyahu-2015-time-100/ "undefined") used a [derogatory slur](http://news.yahoo.com/faced-eu-u-criticism-israeli-insults-fly-113433831.html "undefined") to describe the U.S. ambassador to Israel, fighting back at comments the diplomat made in a speech on Monday. Former Netanyahu adviser Aviv Bushinsky used the derogatory Yiddish term “yehudoni” to describe Ambassador Dan Shapiro, [according to reports by Reuters](http://news.yahoo.com/faced-eu-u-criticism-israeli-insults-fly-113433831.html "undefined"). The term loosely translates to mean “little Jew boy.” The insult came after Shapiro said during a speech on Monday that Israel applied law in the West Bank differently to Palestinians and Israelis. Netanyahu said Shapiro’s comments were “unacceptable and wrong,” [according to Reuters](http://news.yahoo.com/faced-eu-u-criticism-israeli-insults-fly-113433831.html "undefined"). “To put it bluntly, it was a statement typical of a little Jew boy,” Bushinsky said. \[[Reuters](http://news.yahoo.com/faced-eu-u-criticism-israeli-insults-fly-113433831.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4186552/former-netanyahu-aide-calls-u-s-ambassador-little-jew-boy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4186552/former-netanyahu-aide-calls-u-s-ambassador-little-jew-boy/"},"headline":"Former Netanyahu Aide Calls U.S. Ambassador 'Little Jew Boy'","datePublished":"2016-01-20T13:53:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:16:32.923Z","description":"The insult followed the ambassador's criticism of Israeli action in the West Bank","url":"https://time.com/4186552/former-netanyahu-aide-calls-u-s-ambassador-little-jew-boy/","keywords":["Israel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e2130200ba29cac/698879b2524fc08400df6590/benjamin-netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e2130200ba29cac/698879b2524fc08400df6590/benjamin-netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem","caption":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 3, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX20UOD","creditText":"Amir Cohen—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4186552/former-netanyahu-aide-calls-u-s-ambassador-little-jew-boy/","name":"Former Netanyahu Aide Calls U.S. Ambassador 'Little Jew Boy'"}}]}] ```