Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the elimination on Friday of the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, by the United States.
“Trump is worthy of full appreciation for acting with determination, strongly and swiftly,” he told reporters on Friday before leaving Greece to return to Israel. “We stand fully by the United States in its just battle for security, peace and self-defense.”
Netanyahu continued, saying that “Israel has the right to defend itself. The U.S. has the same right exactly. Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of innocent U.S. citizens and many others. He was planning further attacks.”
Due to the possibility of Iranian retaliation, the Israeli leader cut short his trip to Greece, where he signed an agreement on Thursday for the $7 billion, 1,180-mile EastMed gas pipeline that will run from Israel through Cyprus and Greece to Europe.
Netanyahu’s political rival, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz, also applauded the U.S. move.
“The killing of Soleimani is a message to all the head of global terror: on your own heads be it,” he said, adding that the killing was “fitting for anyone whose action brings about the murder of innocents and the destabilization of the region and the world.”
