Israel PM Netanyahu says ‘personal cost’ of Iran war was postponing son’s wedding

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being derided for standing in front of a missile-struck hospital building and saying that the current war with Iran has resulted in his son's wedding to be postponed for the second time.

Spoke solemnly about hardships of Israelis

His remarks on Jun. 20 came as he solemnly spoke about the hardships faced by ordinary Israelis and pointed out that his family was also suffering.

The Guardian reported on the gravity of Netanyahu's delivery, highlighting that he had "adopted a Churchillian tone" when pointing out that his son Avner’s wedding had already been postponed once.

“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.

“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,” he said.

Light injuries were reported.

The leader of Israel, who held office for 17 years, added that Avner’s fiancee was also disappointed, as well as Sara, the mother of the groom, who is Netanyahu’s wife.

A week after Israel attacked Iran

Israel conducted coordinated airstrikes on key Iranian sites a week earlier on Friday, Jun. 13.

Speaking in the southern city of Beersheba, Netanyahu also said: “It really reminds me of the British people during the blitz. We are going through a blitz.”

He was 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.

Critics ridicule Netanyahu's remarks

Critics seized on the Israeli prime minister's remarks and labelled them as increasingly tone deaf, and that he is getting more cut off emotionally from the daily realities of Israel and the region, The Guardian also reported.

Anat Angrest, whose son Matan has been held hostage since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 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 an X post.

So far, the Israeli authorities say 24 Israeli civilians have so far been killed, while Washington-based human rights activists have estimated that 263 Iranian civilians have died.

Iran could have let guard down assuming Netanyahu attending wedding

But the wedding of Netanyahu's son might have some broader significance in the conflict.

Avner Netanyahu’s wedding was first scheduled for November, only for it to be postponed for security reasons.

When it was scheduled to take place on Monday, Jun. 16, it sparked threats of opposition protests.

Reports that the prime minister was going to take a few days off for the event could have resulted in Iran’s complacency.

Its leadership in Tehran was taken unawares by Israel’s aerial attack on Friday morning, days before Netanyahu's supposed attendance at his son's wedding.

Top photos via NBC News & Avner Netanyahu Instagram