Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost' of Iran war – postponing son's wedding
Benjamin Netanyahu has evoked the spirit of London during the blitz, and pointed to his own family's sacrifice amid the blood, toil, tears and sweat of his nation: the second postponement of his son's wedding.
The Israeli prime minister's remarks, solemnly delivered to the cameras against the backdrop of a missile-struck hospital building in the southern city of Beersheba, set off a howl of derision that echoed around the Hebrew-language internet, at the height of a war that Netanyahu unleashed on Friday.
The stunning comments also added grist to the arguments of his critics that the PM is increasingly cut off emotionally from the daily realities of Israel and the region, after more than 17 years in office.
Related: Israel's assumption US would get drawn into Iran war is being put to the test
Seeking to underline his family's shared hardship with ordinary Israelis, Netanyahu adopted a Churchillian tone when pointing out that this was not the first time his son Avner's wedding had needed to be postponed, and that Avner's fiancee was also disappointed, not to mention the thwarted mother of the groom, Netanyahu's wife, Sara.
'It really reminds me of the British people during the blitz. We are going through a blitz,' Netanyahu said, referring to the wartime Nazi bombing of Britain in which 43,000 civilians died.
'There are people who were killed, families who grieved loved ones, I really appreciate that,' he went on.
The Israeli authorities say 24 Israeli civilians have so far been killed. Washington-based human rights activists have estimated the Iranian civilian death toll to be 263.
'Each of us bears a personal cost, and my family has not been exempt,' Netanyahu said at the Soroka hospital, which was struck on Thursday morning by an Iranian missile, causing light injuries.
'This is the second time that my son Avner has cancelled a wedding due to missile threats. It is a personal cost for his fiancee as well, and I must say that my dear wife is a hero, and she bears a personal cost.'
Avner Netanyahu's wedding was first scheduled for November but was postponed for security reasons. Then it was due to take place on Monday, despite the threat of opposition protests.
Reports that the prime minister was going to take a few days off for the event may have contributed to Iran's complacency on Friday morning when its leadership was taken unawares by Israel's aerial attack.
The Israeli backlash to Netanyahu's nuptial comments was instant and furious. Anat Angrest, whose son Matan has been held hostage since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, observed that the suffering 'didn't go unnoticed by my family either'.
'I have been in the hellish dungeons of Gaza for 622 days now,' Angrest said in a post on the social media platform X.
Gilad Kariv, a Knesset member for the Democrats, called Netanyahu a 'borderless narcissist'.
'I know many families who were not forced to postpone a wedding, but who will now never celebrate the weddings that were once meant to take place,' Kariv said.
He was contemptuous of Netanyahu's claim that his wife, Sara, notorious in Israel for her expensive tastes, was a hero.
'The doctors who leave home for night shifts are the heroes,' Kariv said. 'The teachers who keep our children together on Zoom and phone calls are the heroes.'
Amir Tibon, an Israeli journalist, argued that public figures whose children had been killed in combat would never draw attention to the fact.
'But there are no surprises with Netanyahu,' Tibon said. 'Even in moments when a personal example is most needed, he is first and foremost concerned with himself.'
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