From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
At state Memorial Day ceremony, Netanyahu says war against Iran prevented ‘another Holocaust’
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The Islamic Republic of Iran wanted to perpetrate a “Holocaust” against Israel and the Jews, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the state Memorial Day ceremony at Mount Herzl.
“The ayatollah regime in Iran planned another Holocaust,” says Netanyahu. “It sought to destroy us with nuclear weapons and thousands of ballistic missiles. Had we not acted decisively, the names Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan might have joined Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Treblinka.”
Netanyahu says that it did not happen, “because together with our great ally, the United States, we dismantled that machinery of destruction in advance. We removed an immediate existential threat.”
“That is the essence of this campaign,” he continues, “to ensure that the lifeline of the Jewish people is never cut.”
He offers an ecumenical angle on the day, highlighting a Druze NCO who fell in southern Lebanon last month: “Jews and Druze, shoulder to shoulder — alongside Christians, Muslims, Bedouins, Circassians — all united in a vital mission.”
The Times of Israel Community.