Finding Very Distant Famous Cousin: Benjamin Netanyahu On My Tree

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                        

                                                       Benyamin Netanyahu at age 73

                                                                            

                    Benyamin Netanyahu at 18 in IDF, injured once while his older brother, leader of the squad,  was the only death in the Entebbe operation.                                 

Older brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, killed during Entebbe.  

  Young Iddo Netanyahu, said to be the smartest of the 3 brothers

My hobby of genealogy has landed on Benjamin Netanyahu!  Quite a while ago (2019), I had read of Benjamin Netanyahu's parents, and that his mother was a Segal, which is a known Jewish surname.  I ran across Segal connected to one of my Goldfus (spelling of our original name in Lithuania) distant relatives, so I traced it as much as I could, then.  I got as far as a Hyman O. Segal of Lithuania, born 1860.  At that time I wrote a blog article about my findings.  http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/netanyahu-and-others-connected-to.html  of which I'm grateful for recording, with many pictures.  

For Chanukah, my daughter sent me Netanyahu's autobiography that he had just written, BIBI, which he starts off with information about his parents.  There was that Segal name again!  I re-charged my interest, stopped and did a new search online, finding some information on his family from "My Heritage."  Before, had just used what was listed in ancestry.com which I had a year's subscription, doing that for years.  Tracing Netanyahu's Segal family led me to Hyman Osher Segal, Lithuania, born 1860. 

This time when I searched, I found the information leading my to the Segal-Goldfus connection.  That's what was missing before.  A Segal man had married a Goldfus woman. 

  Iddo has not arrived as yet in this family portrait.  

  

  Tzilla Segal-  born Bet. August 28, 1912 - 1913 in Peta Tikva, Israel, mother of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel

                       Benzion Netanyahu, father of  Benjamin.=Benzion Miliekowsky Netanyahu b: March 25, 1910 in Warszawa, Mazowieckie, Polska. m: September 07, 1944 m: September 07, 1944                                        

  That was the same person.  Our trees finally hooked up, glaringly !

Rabbi Nathan Miliekowsky b: 1879, father of Benzion Miliekowsky

Here is my tree on my grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus/ Goldfoot:born August 5, 1871 in Telsiai, Lithuania.  His father was Movsha ben Josel (John) Goldfus, and his father was Iosel Josel Symka ben Yankel Goldfus born 1798 in Telsiai, Lithuania.  and his father was Iankel Yankel ben Abram Goldfus  b: Bet. 1768 - 1774 in Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania.  

Here is my tree on Segal: Notice that Leo Max Segal had married Jeanette Edythe Scheine Goldfus.  That's our Lithuanian family line.  Her father was Herman Harry "Yisrael Hirsch Goldfus and his father was Yehudah Leib ben Chaim Goldfus, and his father was Chaim Khaim Goldfus b: about 1801 from Laukuva, Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania, and his father was one of my direct relatives, Iankel Yankel ben Abram Goldfus born Bet. 1768 - 1774 in Telsiai, Kaunas, Lithuania. 

1   Hersz Zwi Halevi Segal b: Abt. 1840
. +Rachel
.. 2   Hyman Osher Segal b: 1860 in Lithuania Immigration: 1897 Lithuania to USA- on Netanyahu's tree and my tree ; Segal line connects to our Goldfus ancestors and to Netanyahu's mother's father's line --notice a Chana Marcus from our Bobba's town of Lazdijai, Suwalki, Lithuania/Poland
...... +Grasheh Unknown b: Abt. 1870 in Lithuania d: Bef. January 1920 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota Age at death: 50 est.
....... 3   Harry Segal b: 1890 in Lithuania
....... 3   Dora Segal b: 1895 in Lithuania
....... 3   Louis Segal b: 1896 in Lithuania
....... 3   Jessie Segal b: 1897 in Lithuania
....... 3   Samuel Segal b: 1898 in Lithuania
........... +Unknown
........... 4   Granddaughter Segal b: November 1919 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
....... 3   Ida Segal b: 1904 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
....... 3   Mary Segal b: 1905 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
....... 3   Leo Max Segal b: September 02, 1906 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota d: January 02, 1967 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota Immigration: 1929 A Leo Sagal, 23, from Encenado, Mexico to Los Angeles b: Dec 16 Age at death: 60
........... +Jeanette Edythe nee Scheine Goldfus b: January 10, 1910 in Laukuva, Telsiai uesd, Kovno Gubenia, Lithuania-Russian Empire d: October 10, 1993 in St Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota m: Aft. April 18, 1940 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota Immigration: March 21, 1912 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Age at death: 83 m: Aft. April 18, 1940 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
........... 4   Susan Segal b: 1942
............... +Gary Jay Bloom b: February 15, 1942 in Minnesota m: August 09, 1964 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota m: August 09, 1964 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
................ 5   Lora Michelle Bloom b: March 17, 1967 in Ramsey, Minnesota
................ 5   Kimberly Sue Bloom b: May 12, 1970
........... 4   Sandra Mae Segal b: May 05, 1945
............... +Richard Melvin Weintraub b: June 18, 1945 in Los Angeles, California m: December 19, 1965 in Los Angeles, California m: December 19, 1965 in Los Angeles, California
................ 5   Lawrence David Weintraub b: 1968
.. 2   Binyamin Benjamin Halevy "Simon" Segal b: 1867 in Kovno, Kražiai, Kelme District Municipality, Šiauliai County, LithuaniaLithuania d: June 22, 1923 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota Age at death: 56 est.
...... +Chana Malka Marcus b: 1870 in Lazdijai, Suwalki (Alytus), Lithuania
....... 3   Batya Blanche Segal b: 1915 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota d: in Tel Aviv, Israel
........... +Shraga Mazel b: Abt. 1915
....... 3   Ruth Pearl Segal b: 1900 in Minneapolis, Minnesota d: March 17, 1992 Age at death: 92 est.
........... +Moshe Machness
....... 3   Azriel Zelig Halevi Segal b: March 03, 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota d: August 14, 1989 in Tel Aviv, Israel Age at death: 84
........... +Leah Melech
........... 4   Ronni Drora Segal
............... +Unknown Renan
....... 3   Sypora Florence Segal b: 1906 in Minneapolis, Minnesota d: 1978 Age at death: 72 est.
........... +David Rotenfeld 'Ronn"
........... 4   Ben Ronn
....... 3   Manuel Mendy Halevi Segal b: August 08, 1908 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota d: December 11, 1968 in London, Greater London, England Age at death: 60
........... +Ann Chaika Padwa b: 1909 in Hornostaipil', Ivankivs'kyi district, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine

 3   Tzila Segal b: Bet. August 28, 1912 - 1913 in Peta Tikva, Israel d: January 31, 2000 in Jerusalem, Israel Age at death: 87 est.
........... +Benzion Miliekowsky Netanyahu b: March 25, 1910 in Warszawa, Mazowieckie, Polska. m: September 07, 1944 m: September 07, 1944

            4. Yonaton Netanyahu, 
........... 4   PM Benjamin Netanyahu, 21 october, 1949, Tel Aviv, Israel
........... 4   Iddo Netanyahu   

Benjamin Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv and was a middle child.   His mother, Tzila Segal (1912–2000), was born in Petah Tikva in the Ottoman Empire's Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, and his father, Warsaw-born Benzion Netanyahu (né Mileikowsky; 1910–2012), was a historian specializing in the Jewish Golden age of Spain. Netanyahu's paternal grandfather, Nathan Mileikowsky, was a rabbi and Zionist writer. When Netanyahu's father emigrated to Israel, he hebraized his surname from "Mileikowsky" to "Netanyahu", meaning "God has given." While his family is predominantly Ashkenazi, he has said that a DNA test revealed him to have some Sephardic ancestry. He claims descent from the Vilna Gaon.  Our 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot of South Africa/Israel also was told of connecting to the Vilna Gaon.                    

Netanyahu sitting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the Wye River Memorandum, 1998.  Madeleine's  parents were Jews, but she was never aware of her heritage.  Josef and Anna converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1941.when WWII was obviously killing Jews.   Marie Jana and her siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith. In 1997, Albright said her parents never told her or her two siblings about their Jewish ancestry and heritage. It's ironic that she and Netanyahu should be working together.

This is not his first time being the Prime Minister of Israel.  This time, his government is heavy with Religious Party members, which has shaken up the world--perhaps thinking of how Iran is being run these days by their extreme religious Ayatollaa.  There has been no one that has had my admiration more than Benjamin Netanyahu in previous years, and I was crushed when he had lost.  I note that his knowledge of the history of Israel and debating skills and the command of the English  language, far outweighs most Americans speaking English,so  is phenomenal.  I absolutely loved his defense of Israel when he was on live TV, actually debating with Obama.  I think that was when Obama expected Israel to go back to lines that were impossible for Israel's existence.  Of course, Washington and the Democrats didn't favor that scene, but I was cheering, knowing it's truth.  

Update:1/8/23 8:30pm   I have 26 people with the surname of Segal that match some of my DNA on ftdna.  The 7 I chose for checking did not match each other, so no triangulation with them, showing they did not come from the same source. 

Update: 1/9/23  9:48am  I just found another connection to a Segall, this time with Descendants of Louis "Elias" Goldfoot, MD

My brother also match about the same amount of Segal, but many are different from my match.  Out of all of them, I found 4 3rd cousins that we both matched, and a total of 14 that we both matched. The others were all 4th cousins.  

1  Louis "Elias" Goldfoot, MD b: 1878 in Vilnius, Lithuania/Russia d: November 15, 1976 in Capetown, Johannesburg, South Africa Immigration: 1903 To Johannesburg, South Africa Age at death: 98 est.

.. +Mary Segall b: Abt. 1878 in Russia d: in Johanesburg, South Africa m: 1913 m: 1913.  This is the Goldfoot line of our 3rd cousin, Ian Goldfoot of South Africa. His family had gone from Lithuania to S.Africa instead of the USA.  Evidently many Jewish Lithuanians chose S. Africa as their 2nd home.  He since then emigrated to Texas, where he recently passed away.   

 

  

Resource:

Updated on 1/10/23

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2021/06/200-years-ago-with-chaim-halevi.html

http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/netanyahu-and-others-connected-to.html

https://starsunfolded.com/benjamin-netanyahu/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonatan_Netanyahu#:~:text=Yonatan%20%22Yoni%22%20Netanyahu%20(Hebrew,Airport%20in%20Uganda%20in%201976.