Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed this evening (Monday) that Iran has attempted to assassinate one of his children. The information was previously prohibited from being published.
In a conversation with Channel 14 News, Netanyahu said, "There is something here that is unbelievable. Iran targeted one of my children. Iran tried to murder one of my children."
When asked whether this was intelligence information that was presented to him, Netanyahu did not elaborate and repeated his words: "Iran tried to assassinate one of my children." According to him, security for his children is not a luxury: "It is something without which this attempt will simply succeed."
The Ministerial Committee for Shin Bet Affairs approved on July 16th granting Netanyahu security for life, and his wife Sara will be secured for the rest of her husband's life. The Prime Minister's sons will be secured, even if he does not continue for another term, for five years.
The Shin Bet and the Mossad determined before the decision that Netanyahu and his family were at a high level of threat for their entire lives due to the desire of Israel's enemies to avenge the assassinations of senior Iranian officials during the war.
Two years ago, it was revealed that the Shin Bet and the police arrested Motti Maman, a 73-year-old resident of Ashkelon, who had been recruited by intelligence officials in Iran for the purpose of assassinating Israeli figures. Among the targets were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
According to the security establishment, Maman was smuggled into Iranian territory twice and received payment for carrying out missions. The background to the Israeli's actions is an attempt to obtain "easy money" after he got into debt.
Netanyahu's statement follows reports that Iranian state television aired a video threatening Barron Trump, the 20-year-old son of US President Donald Trump.
The video, titled “Where and How Barron Trump Should Be Killed," claims that Barron Trump’s movements have been “fully monitored" and that the information obtained includes the location of the university he attends, the vehicles accompanying him, and the locations of the Secret Service personnel protecting him. The video also claims that a $10 million bounty has been offered for him, although that claim had not been independently verified at the time of publication.
The broadcast comes after a similar video published in July by the Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claiming that access routes and weaknesses in Melania Trump’s security arrangements in New York had been exposed. In late May, the New York Post reported on an alleged plot to harm Ivanka Trump.
Iranian state media have also issued direct threats against President Trump himself. In July, a billboard was displayed in Tehran’s Islamic Revolution Square showing Trump apparently dead in a coffin, alongside the English-language words, “We will kill Trump.