Moments after President Isaac Herzog returned to his Jerusalem home from the Beersheba hospital that Iran had struck on Thursday, he had two topics on his mind: Iran’s aggression and the struggles of Diaspora Jewry as it faces rising hatred.
For this interview conducted later that day, his staff had dispensed with the ornate chairs that are often used, feeling that the mood of the day called for a plainer setting. Dozens had just been injured in the strike on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, and it was clear the experience of visiting the attack site affected him.
Herzog is a man who does not take Holocaust parallels lightly. His father, former president Chaim Herzog, liberated Bergen-Belsen with the British Army. Asked about his father’s World War II actions and whether Iran is really a threat to the Jewish people akin to the Nazis, his answer was clear.
Herzog said a “war against the Jews” is underway, and people should take the Holocaust-Iran equation seriously. He insisted that with the preemptive attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military sites that Israel launched on June 13, the Jewish state seized a “now or never” opportunity to avert a potential Holocaust-like catastrophe.
“Look, the Iranians have direct plans to annihilate Israel,” he said. “They say it, and we know that they have them. That’s their aim. We should be very much aware of it.”
“What we’re doing now is a heroic campaign to remove the real existential threats on the State of Israel to enable Jews to come here and thrive here, to enable them to thrive in their communities the world over without threats, without these terror cells of the Iranians and their proxies, without threats on Israel and without moving to the bomb, which is the most dangerous development in humankind,” Herzog said.
Discussing the attack on the Beersheba hospital, Herzog said: “I think it’s disgusting and horrendous. We know that it was an Iranian-instigated attack on the hospital because they want to… weaken our backbone emotionally.”
Herzog said that this is why Iran’s missile barrages, which in a week of hostilities have killed 24 and injured thousands, have targeted Israel’s population centers indiscriminately. He hailed Israel’s air defense systems and comprehensive Home Front Command instructions for civilians to take cover, while also crediting a higher power.
“Thank God, like a total miracle, nobody was killed,” he said, referring to the fact that hospital staff had cleared patients out of some areas just moments before the strike hit the building early Thursday morning.
Israel has “many capabilities,” he said. “We haven’t shown everything yet.”
He also spoke of Israel’s “immense resilience” and about the Israeli value for life. Referring to what he framed as Hamas’s refusal to seriously negotiate on hostages abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, he said, “Their way of thinking is, ‘We don’t care about dying.’ But we care about life.”
Herzog said that Israel’s commitment to life is underscored by the determination to rebuild at places hit by Iranian missiles, including at Soroka Medical Center and at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. He said that in those places, “we will recreate life because we are a very resilient and impressive nation.”
Herzog insisted that the war against Iran must be seen as a fight for the free world, not just for Israel.
“That’s what people don’t get,” he said. “They love to criticize Israel automatically, but we’re actually defending the West. We’re defending Europe.”
He said that the Iranian regime runs a “war machine that was planned against us, but truly, the next ones in line are the Europeans and all who are ‘infidels,’ as they call them.”
Herzog appealed to rabbis to keep up continued prayers and solidarity.
“Remember, your brothers and sisters are under fire here, protecting and defending the free world,” he said. “If it weren’t for us, Europe and the United States would be next. What we are doing is a historic move to change the reality in the Middle East and offer peace for the future.”
Addressing the Jewish world in general, he urged communities across the Diaspora to stay strong.
“Tell everybody, don’t be afraid, and fight back. Use all the means you have, legal, public, everything else. Many more people than you think are with you,” Herzog said. “I know there are risks. I don’t shy away. I know there’s pain.”
Herzog paid special tribute to Jewish students around the world who are assertive and “very proud” in the face of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism on university campuses.
“I want to tell all our dear Jewish students. You know, there were many periods in Jewish history where students could not express their views and opinions,” he said.
“Be together, fight back. You’re stronger than you think. Many people support you. Don’t shy away,” he said. “These enemies will go away, and we shall prevail and overcome. Am Yisrael Chai [the People of Israel live].”