At site of Soroka Hospital strike, Herzog calls for ‘severe blow’ to Iran

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

President Isaac Herzog, left, visits the site of an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, alongside the hospital’s director-general, Dr. Shlomi Codish. June 19, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
President Isaac Herzog, left, visits the site of an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, alongside the hospital’s director-general, Dr. Shlomi Codish. June 19, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

At the site of the Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba this morning, President Isaac Herzog says Israel must deliver a “harsh blow” to Iran to ensure a better future for Israel and the region.

“We will rebuild everything. That is a certainty. We will demonstrate resilience, and we will change our destiny — and the destiny of the entire region,” Herzog tells media at the scene.

He highlights that “Jews, Muslims, and people of all faiths work together and receive care side by side” in the hospital, including Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, demonstrating “what the future can be.”

“For the sake of that future, we must fight and we must change reality — and that means delivering a most severe blow to the head of the snake sitting in Tehran. That is the reality,” says Herzog.

He adds that Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza had received treatment at the hospital, saying, “We will not for a moment forget the hostages still in captivity. We want to see them home — every last one of them — as soon as possible.”

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