Shin Bet Confirms Threat Against Yair Netanyahu in Miami and Ordered Urgent Return to Israel

Israel’s Shin Bet security service confirmed Saturday evening that a threat was made against Yair Netanyahu, the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while he was staying in Miami.

“Following the threat and after a security assessment, a decision was made to urgently bring him and his security team back to Israel,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

The service did not disclose the nature of the threat, its source or whether a specific attack was planned. Restrictions remain in place regarding the publication of additional details.

Netanyahu Claimed Iran Targeted One of His Sons

The Shin Bet confirmation comes days after Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a television interview that Iran had attempted to assassinate one of his sons.

“Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to murder one of my sons,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.

The statement reportedly surprised Israeli military censorship authorities, which had previously imposed restrictions on reporting about the matter. For several weeks, Israeli media outlets had been prohibited from publishing information concerning the alleged threat.

Netanyahu subsequently cited the incident as part of his argument for extending state-funded security arrangements for his sons for an additional five years.

Reports Identified Yair Netanyahu as the Target

A day after Netanyahu’s interview, the American news network Newsmax reported, citing an anonymous source, that Yair Netanyahu was the intended target.

The chronology reported by Newsmax, however, has raised questions about the timing of the alleged assassination attempt and does not fully correspond with other information that has emerged regarding the security threat.

The Shin Bet’s latest statement confirms that a threat existed while Yair Netanyahu was in Miami, but does not explicitly identify the alleged perpetrator or characterize the threat as an Iranian assassination attempt.

The issue of security for the prime minister’s family has become a matter of public debate in Israel.

Last month, a ministerial committee dealing with Shin Bet affairs approved continued protection for Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, for the duration of the prime minister’s life.

The decision followed a recommendation by Shin Bet Director David Zini, which was also supported by the Mossad.

The security arrangements for Netanyahu’s sons have generated controversy because critics argue that protection should be determined primarily by concrete threat assessments rather than predetermined periods.

 "Spoke of Foiled Assassination Attempt"

In July, Ronen Cohen, a retired IDF colonel and chairman of the advisory committee responsible for the protection of public figures, said in an interview with i24NEWS that an assassination attempt against “one of the Netanyahu family members” had been thwarted “at the last minute.”

Cohen, who previously worked as a commentator for Channel 14, did not identify the family member involved.

The Shin Bet’s statement on Saturday provides the first official confirmation that a specific threat against Yair Netanyahu existed while he was abroad.

Shin Bet Declines to Provide Further Details

Despite the confirmation, major questions remain unanswered, including who was behind the threat, how credible it was, whether an operational plan to harm Yair Netanyahu had been detected, and whether the threat was connected to Iran.

The Shin Bet did not provide details on the intelligence that led to the decision to evacuate him from Miami.

The decision to return him to Israel with his security team indicates that Israeli authorities assessed the threat as sufficiently serious to warrant an immediate change in his location.

Security Arrangements for Eisenkot Also Under Scrutiny

The development comes amid a separate controversy over the personal security of Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! political party.

Earlier this month, the Shin Bet decided not to provide Eisenkot with state security.

His party subsequently sent a letter to the Shin Bet and police arguing that the private security arrangements provided for him were insufficient and warning that the physical threat against him was increasing.

The party said that the atmosphere in Israeli society and on social media was becoming increasingly heated and that threats were becoming more frequent.

Two Contrasting Security Decisions

The contrasting cases have fueled debate over how Israel determines the level of protection afforded to senior political figures.

In Yair Netanyahu’s case, the Shin Bet says a specific threat led to an urgent evacuation from abroad.

In Eisenkot’s case, the security service concluded that state protection was not warranted despite his party’s claims of increasing threats.

The two cases highlight the central role of intelligence-based threat assessments in determining who receives state protection—and the continuing tension between security considerations, political sensitivities and public scrutiny.