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

Asked during a Channel 14 interview if he was 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........

© The Times of Israel