*Netanyahu stuns Israelis by describing ‘personal cost’ of Iran war – postponing son’s wedding* Also Read : *Israel-Iran war live: foreign ministers from Europe and Iran to hold talks as US says it is still deciding whether to join war* ©Zoomic Media https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaD22E27YScxhpM8Re26 Israeli prime minister prompts furious backlash for remarks in front of missile-struck hospital at height of Iran conflict 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. “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.” ----- *Israel-Iran war live: foreign ministers from Europe and Iran to hold talks as US says it is still deciding whether to join war* Ministers from UK, France and Germany will meet Abbas Araqchi after White House says Trump will ‘make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks’ An Iranian Red Crescent ambulance hit by an Israeli airstrike on June 16 in West Azerbaijan province, is currently on display in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. This incident resulted in the deaths of two healthcare workers. Since Israel began its strikes across Iran on June 13, 2025, as part of Operation 'Rising Lion,' the two countries have been exchanging fire. Israel Continues To Conduct Airstrikes Against Iran, Tehran - 19 Jun 2025 Foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany are to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Geneva on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its nuclear programme. The meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s war on Iran to allow for negotiations to continue. The White House said that the US president would “make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks”. It added that correspondence with Tehran had continued and there was still hope of negotiations. UK foreign secretary David Lammy, speaking after a meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Thursday, said it was “time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one”. The talks will be held in Geneva, where an initial accord between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for sanctions lifting was struck in 2013 before a comprehensive deal in 2015. The latest nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US collapsed when Israel launched its surprise attack on Iran on 12 June. An Iranian official said Tehran has always welcomed diplomacy, but urged the so-called E3 to use all available means to pressure Israel to halt its attacks on Iran. “Iran remains committed to diplomacy as the only path to resolving disputes – but diplomacy is under attack,” the official said. Israel meanwhile openly declared its support for regime change in Iran, with defence minister Israel Katz saying Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”. In other key developments: At least 22 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on aid seekers near the Netzarim axis in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported early on Friday, citing a source at al-Awda hospital in Deir al-Balah. On Thursday Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 72 people, including 21 who had gathered near food distribution sites set up by the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF). The dead included women and children, according to Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, who posted footage of the bodies of children scattered in the street after an Israeli attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians near Gaza City. Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack. Israel also targeted the Natanz site, which has been hit several times. A week of Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, a human rights group said. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel being killed. Iran has not given regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update on Monday, it put the death toll at 224 people and 1,277 wounded. At least 240 people were wounded by Iranian missile strikes on Israel on Thursday morning, the AP reported. The outlet said that four individuals has been seriously wounded, citing Israel’s health ministry. Iran on Thursday accused the UN’s nuclear watchdog of acting as a “partner” in what it described as Israel’s war of aggression. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran in a report prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war of non-compliance with its obligations in its nuclear programme. Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos. Sistani said in a statement on Thursday that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”. ......