Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict


Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments added grist to the arguments of his critics that he is emotionally cut off from the daily realities of life in Israel. Photograph: Marc Israel Sellem/Reuters

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.

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.