At scene of deadly Iranian strike, Herzog lauds Trump, Netanyahu; Bennett gives ‘full backing’ to government, urges Iranian people to ‘rise up’

Speaking at the site of a deadly Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, President Isaac Herzog thanks US President Donald Trump “for his courage” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “for the correct decision.”

“We are united at this moment to defeat the enemy and bring about change,” he says.

Israel is at war, the president stresses, “and in war, you must first take care of the home front and protect it, and second, attack and act with full force to defeat the enemy.”

“If someone rises to kill you, rise to kill him first,” he says, quoting the Babylonian Talmud.

“This is not an easy time,” Herzog continues, “but it is a time in which we can see, generations ahead, how much this campaign is bringing change. Generations ahead — because the evil empire in Iran has as its sole objective the destruction of Israel. This is a top priority on its agenda. Therefore, it is our duty to be strong, resilient, and steadfast. We will get through this and move forward, and our children and grandchildren will one day be grateful for these moments.”

At the same site, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, considered Netanyahu’s main rival in elections this year, stresses his support “for the government and its leader.”

He also says that while much of the world routinely denounces what Israel does, even critics of Israel know deep down that “Israel is doing their job, in eliminating the world’s biggest terrorist dictators.”

“I’ve never been prouder to be an Israeli,” he says, “and we will never apologize for what we are doing. I give my full backing to the government and its leader. There is no left and no right.” He also hails Israel’s military, noting that “the entire people of Israel stand behind the pilots.”

Bennett says Israel is stronger and safer “because Israel did not wait any longer” to target Iran. He laments that Israel “for decades” followed a doctrine of “containment and waiting.” But now, he says, it is “acting on every front to harm our enemies.”

“We all proceed together” until the threats to Israel are dealt with, he says.

Noting that Israel has done its part by eliminating the Iranian leadership, he says: “Now it’s the Iranian people’s turn to rise up and free itself. The one who must remove the chains of oppression is the Iranian people itself.”