Asked how Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacre changed him, Netanyahu jokes that he ‘lost a little weight’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joked that what October 7, 2023, has changed about him is that he has “lost a little weight,” sparking outcry from political opponents and others for ostensibly making light of Hamas’s invasion and massacre and the plight of the hostages that were seized that day.

Asked during a Channel 14 interview how he had been changed by the Hamas attack, Netanyahu first said that the invasion and massacre affected his approach to Israel’s security doctrine, citing the need for buffer zones inside enemy territory.

“Let’s just say that I learned lessons. I drew conclusions. And you have to move with reality,” he said.

“The most important thing, in my view, is first and foremost having buffer zones inside enemy territory — not inside our territory. I don’t want the communities of the north to be some kind of frontier region whose reality is different from that of the areas immediately south of them,” the premier said.

Netanyahu has insisted on maintaining wide buffer zones in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, but they have produced limited results in thwarting Iranian proxies in those areas, while straining US efforts to advance diplomatic resolutions to regional conflicts.

The premier was pressed further by the pro-Netanyahu channel on how he personally has changed since the massacre, leading him to quip, “First of all, I lost a little weight.”

כולם השתנו אחרי ה-7 באוקטובר. כולם. חוץ ממנו. נתניהו אומר שהוא איבד קצת במשקל. ההלצה. הבוז.
במדינה חפצת חיים מפסידים על זה, רק על זה את הבחירות. גם ללא אחריות של שני עשורים למחדל. pic.twitter.com/9WHZnmDkbv

— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) June 30, 2026

He then quickly pivoted, with a “But seriously,” to a review of wartime decisions he said he championed, including a broader reserve mobilization than initially planned, the campaign against Hamas, operations against Hezbollah, actions in Syria and strikes on Iran.

But Netanyahu’s political rivals quickly pounced on his seemingly making light of the October 7 attack in which some 1,200 people were killed, and 250 were taken hostage, many of them tortured and starved.

“He is out of touch, unfit and unworthy of this nation,” tweeted Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot, who has become one of Netanyahu’s main rivals in the upcoming election.

Eisenkot repeated his vow to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate the October 7 massacre — which Netanyahu has prevented.

Netanyahu’s remarks came amid ongoing public debate over accountability for the attack, the worst in the history of Israel, which led numerous senior military and intelligence officials to publicly acknowledge failures and resign. Netanyahu has not explicitly accepted personal responsibility for the attack and has refused to establish a state commission of inquiry, instead calling for a politically controlled probe of the Hamas attack and its aftermath.