Israeli PM Netanyahu alleges Iran tried to kill his son, a claim reportedly under gag order for months, as election rival seeks security protection.
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran had attempted to assassinate one of his two sons, without offering further details.
“Something incredible happened: Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill one of my sons,” Netanyahu said during a phone interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
The claim came during a discussion about reports that the Shin Bet domestic security agency had declined to provide a security detail for Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who is running neck and neck with Netanyahu ahead of elections on October 27.
Netanyahu voiced support for around-the-clock protection for Eisenkot, saying it was “not a luxury”.
“Without that, (the Iranians) will succeed,” he said.
Netanyahu has two sons and a daughter. It remains unclear which of his sons was allegedly targeted.
His elder son, Yair, 35, has spent extended periods in Miami since early 2024, reportedly under Shin Bet protection.
His stay in the United States has attracted controversy in Israel over the cost to taxpayers of providing security, while some residents in south Florida have expressed concern that his presence could make the area a target for attacks by Israel’s enemies.
Shortly after Netanyahu’s remarks became public on Monday, prominent Israeli journalist Amit Segal wrote on his Telegram channel that the alleged assassination attempt had been known for “months” but was subject to a gag order.
Israel killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, along with some of his family members.
His son Mojtaba, one of Khamenei’s six children, was named the new supreme leader a week later.
In a message read out on his behalf on state TV, Mojtaba Khamenei said that in addition to his father, he had lost his wife, his sister, her child and his brother-in-law.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since his appointment, and was reportedly wounded in the same strikes that killed his father.
In another message attributed to him and published on the occasion of funeral ceremonies for his father, the new leader pledged to “avenge the blood” of Ali Khamenei.