“I heard today Iran’s President Rouhani’s claim that Israel is behind the protests in Iran. It’s not only false, it’s laughable,” says Netanyahu in a video message in English.
“Unlike Rouhani, I will not insult the Iranian people. They deserve better.”
Netanyahu applauds the “brave” demonstrators and their calls for “freedom” and “justice.”
“Brave Iranians are pouring into the streets. They seek freedom. They seek justice. They seek the basic liberties that have been denied to them for decades,” he says.
The premier says “Iran’s cruel regime” has spent “billions of dollars spreading hate” rather than building schools and hospitals for its own citizens.
Netanyahu chides European governments for staying silent as “heroic young Iranians are beaten in the streets.”
He says “Iranians and Israelis will be great friends once again” after the Islamic Republic collapses, which “one day it will.”
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The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 1, 2018
