Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday visited the country’s north, where he met with leaders of the Western Galilee and with soldiers wounded in Southern Lebanon.
Herzog also convened a meeting with regional representatives of the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command, which was attended by Kiryat Bialik Mayor Eli Dukorsky and Kiryat Motzkin Mayor Tziki Avishar.
The president visited the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and, together with the center’s director, professor Michael Halberthal, met with wounded troops.
The visit concluded at the Haifa crisis management center, where he met with the city’s mayor, Yona Yahav, along with police and emergency forces.
“Hezbollah has been threatening Haifa and this vicinity all throughout and yet, the people of Haifa are strong. The mayor and his team are outstanding, and I’m sure we shall overcome and we shall undermine their [Hezbollah’s] capabilities,” said Herzog.
“The world should understand that we’ve offered, time and again, to reach an amicable solution on the border with Lebanon. Unfortunately, Hezbollah refused time and again, and today, [deputy terror chief] Sheikh Naim Qassem threatened again and again to link the situation in Lebanon to other fronts,” he continued.
Herzog praised residents of the north for their resilience in the face of ongoing rocket fire and urged the people of Lebanon to apply pressure on Iran’s terror proxy.
“So let me tell the people of Lebanon: You are paying the price for a vicious regime of terror headed by Hezbollah. You are paying the price. Instead of a good, decent life for a country that was once the pride of the Middle East, Lebanon, now you’re paying the price, and the price is getting heavier and heavier,” said Herzog.
“And I think pressure on Hezbollah is imminent, on Iran is imminent. The world community should confront them strongly and demand an immediate solution and an exit from this war by way of securing a silent and a peaceful border between us and Lebanon,” he added.
