Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son was evacuated from the United States after Israeli intelligence received word of an assassination threat.
Yair Netanyahu, 35, moved to Miami, Florida, in 2023, and remained there for most of the war following Hamas’s surprise attack on Oct. 7 of that year. A statement from Shin Bet said he was urgently evacuated after the intelligence agency assessed that there was a “significant threat” to his life, and that he should be quickly returned to Israel.
“There was a significant threat to harm Yair Netanyahu, and in light of this and after an assessment, a decision was made to urgently extract him along with his security team and return him to Israel,” Shin Bet said.
The agency was sparse on details, but previous reports said the evacuation took place in December. Shin Bet personnel were diverted from New York, where they were accompanying Israeli President Isaac Herzog, to help with the operation.
The prime minister alluded to the operation last week in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
“Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons,” he said.
Concerns over Iranian assassination attempts against major U.S. and Israeli figures and their families have grown exponentially over the past year, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seeks revenge for the assassination of several rounds of its senior leadership. The Guard openly called for revenge at the July funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Most recently, Guard-linked media have released detailed videos on how to assassinate first lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron Trump.
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Despite the effort and threats, Iran has so far been unsuccessful in assassinating any notable U.S. or Israeli figures.
Yair Netanyahu has remained active on social media, where he is known for his energetic and controversial commentary, most recently picking a fight with the United Kingdom by throwing in his lot behind Argentina in the Falkland Islands dispute.