Opponents of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu are planning to demonstrate outside his son’s wedding next week.
Monday’s wedding of Avner Netanyahu (30), the prime minister’s youngest son, and Amit Yardeni (27), a cybersecurity researcher, is taking place at Ronit Farm in the centre of the country, one of Israel’s plushest event venues.
More than 1,000 guests have been invited, prompting criticism in Israel that such an extravagance – while the war in Gaza continues, soldiers are among those being killed and 55 hostages remain in Hamas captivity – underscores the disconnect between the Netanyahu family and the public at large.
Activists are discussing several tactics, such as blocking approach roads to the venue, using air horns, drums and loudspeakers to disrupt the event and photographing guests in a “name-and-shame” campaign.
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Prominent anti-government activist Ami Dror urged the groom to tone down the wedding, launching a scathing attack on the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu. “While thousands of reservists got married in wheelchairs, while thousands of families will never get to marry off their children, while the families of the hostages can’t sleep at night – you’re throwing a ball in the style of Elana Ceaușescu? In the most expensive venue in Israel?”
Sources close to the couple say Avner Netanyahu made it clear he doesn’t want ministers and members of the Knesset parliament to attend the wedding, reportedly prompting the ire of some leading politicians who consider themselves personal friends of the Netanyahu family.
Avner has kept out of the public eye, in sharp contrast to his older brother Yair, who has relocated to Miami but maintains a steady flow of vitriolic social media posts against opponents of his father, the judiciary and the media.
Some opponents of the prime minister have warned that the wedding protest may be counterproductive.
“What is clear is that many good people who believe in this protest movement are now deeply conflicted,” wrote Ariela Ringel Hoffman, in the daily Yediot Aharonot newspaper. “And stunts like this are fuel for the engine that keeps Netanyahu in power – and makes him stronger.”
