Herzog exhorts Iranians to revolt against Tehran-led anti-Israel axis

Speaking to the Saudi Al Arabiya network, President Isaac Herzog calls for the Lebanese and Iranian people to “rise up” and confront the Iranian axis.

“If we confront it and be tough together, we surely can hope for a better future and create a NATO-like structure in the region that blocks radicalism,” he says, speaking in English.

Herzog does not say how Israel might respond to Iran’s missile attack last week, only that “we are calculating all calculations in this respect.”

Speaking a day before the one-year anniversary of the Hamas October 7 attacks, Herzog says that “this war has been waged against us by the empire of evil, by Iran and its proxies. We have 101 hostages still in the dungeons of Gaza, in immense suffering. And we are fighting in the north and in the south, meaning in Gaza and in Lebanon. We are trying to change the equation and bring hope for the people of the Middle East.”

Herzog calls the moment “a golden opportunity for the powers that want to have a better future for the Middle East to move forward with new ideas and new plans in order to resolve this conflict.”

The president argues that Israel follows international law, and cares deeply for its neighbors.

“The people in the Gaza Strip deserve a better future as neighbors of ours, and we deserve a better day and better future as their neighbors,” he says.