Netanyahu Said He Had To Pay A "Personal Price" For The War Because His Son Had To Postpone His Wedding
Netanyahu said his family is also suffering because his son, Avner, had to postpone his wedding again due to the threat of missile and rocket fire.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has caused widespread fury both in and outside of Israel after he said that he, too, had to pay a "personal price" for Israel's war because his son had to postpone his wedding for a second time.
Speaking to reporters after visiting a hospital in the southern city of Beersheba that was struck by Iran's retaliatory attacks on Friday, June 20, Netanyahu said that the personal price of his war did not "pass over" his family.
"There are people, who unfortunately, were also killed. Families who lost their loved ones. I really appreciate it," he said.
He added that his family is also suffering because his son, Avner, had to postpone his wedding — which was already rescheduled from November 2024 to Monday, June 16, for security reasons — again due to the threat of missile and rocket fire.
Netanyahu added that his wife is a hero for the sacrifices she has made as he carries out what he called a move against Iran's nuclear program.
The comments caused an uproar immediately, with Anat Angrest, the mother of a hostage still held in Gaza, saying that the war “didn’t go unnoticed by my family either”.
“I have been in the hellish dungeons of Gaza for 622 days now,” she said in a post on X.
Gilad Kariv, an Israeli lawmaker for the Democrats, called Netanyahu a “borderless narcissist”, saying that “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."
In the same interview, Netanyahu also tried to call out Iran for targeting the hospital that he said had immobile patients and babies inside, saying that Israel has been targeting nuclear and military sites in Iran instead.
The comments also sparked outrage, as Israel itself has practically destroyed all of Gaza's healthcare system by systematically targeting hospitals that were treating civilians.
Its genocide in Gaza has killed more than 55,706 Palestinians in Gaza, with thousands more buried under the rubble.
Sofia Hou
Kassy Cho
