At site of deadly Iranian missile strike, Herzog warns proxy groups against joining conflict

By Nava Freiberg

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2 March 2026, 11:44 am

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Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

President Isaac Herzog (L), alongside Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg, visits the site of an Iranian missile attack in Beit Shemesh, which resulted in the death of nine civilians. March 2, 2026. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Speaking at the site of yesterday’s deadly Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, President Isaac Herzog warns Iranian proxy terror groups not to join Iran’s attacks against Israel.

“I recommend to any proxy not to even dare think that they will start another war with us. We will not accept any more, and we won’t let them amass their forces on our border,” Herzog says in remarks shared by his office, after Hezbollah attacked Israel from Lebanon overnight in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran.

“We are in the middle of a very important stage in history. This stage will determine the direction of the Middle East,” Herzog continues. “Rather than endless terror and havoc created by the empire of evil from Tehran, there will be change that will offer hope and peace to a coalition of nations, which has emerged above ground and is fighting against the empire of evil,” he says.

“I sincerely hope that this operation will move forward so that there will be real change,” the president says. “We call upon the Iranian people. This is your opportunity, at the given moment, to rise up and bring change in the region so that we can all live in peace.”

Herzog sends condolences to the families of the nine victims, including children, who were killed in yesterday’s missile strike, which destroyed a synagogue and caused extensive damage to surrounding homes in a residential area.