Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday called Iran’s massive drone and missile attack on Saturday a “declaration of war” against the Jewish state, adding that Jerusalem was deliberating how to respond.
“The key issue is for the free world is to understand that there is an empire of evil in Tehran, which has its proxies laid all over the region and terror cells all over the world. It’s about time that the world faces this empire of evil in Tehran, and makes it clear to the Iranian regime that this cannot pass by, that this is unacceptable,” said Herzog in an interview with Sky News.
“Every one of us should look and ask, what would we do have we been attacked in such an aggressive way, as we were attacked last night from four corners of the Middle East with proxies shooting at us, firing missiles, ballistic missiles, drones and then cruise missiles? This is like a real war. This is a declaration of war.
“Now, because we are restrained and because we know the repercussions, and because we have deliberations with our partners, we are considering all options and I’m quite confident that we will take the necessary steps to protect and defend our people. We are not war seekers,” added the president.
Asked about the ongoing was against Hamas, Herzog stressed: “The number one issue is the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza who are being tortured and raped, suffering tremendously. We want them back as soon as possible. The entire world leadership is calling for that. But Hamas is adamantly refusing time and again—that’s the real situation at hand. Five times in a row we have offered new suggestions, and they’ve rejected.
“It’s about time that the world realized. The world must realize that they don’t really want to move to a deal and therefore we have to take necessary action in order to bring the hostages back home,” concluded Herzog.
