Iran’s nuclear program was an existential threat to the Jewish people, Israeli Minister of Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition Meir Porush told JNS on Sunday.
“Throughout my years in the Knesset and in government, I have supported Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts against the Iranian nuclear program, which posed a threat of annihilation to the Jewish people, as there was during the Holocaust,” said Porush, of the United Torah Judaism Party.
“Every move [forward] must be consistent with the goals set for this operation: removing the nuclear and ballistic threat from the Land of Israel, and with God’s help, we will succeed,” he added.
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday referred to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “modern Hitler” and suggested that Jerusalem may be weighing the option of assassinating him.
The military “has been instructed and knows that—to achieve all goals—this man should no longer continue to exist, without question,” Katz said.
Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Ohad Tal told JNS that Israel should aim for regime change in Iran to ensure that the mullahs can never again pose a threat to the existence of the Jewish state.
“The next step should be to take down the ayatollahs. Period,” he said.
“Israel and the United States have done incredible work so far, but there is still more to do,” continued Tal. “To change the Middle East for many generations to come and to bring about true peace and stability, the tyrannical regime in Iran must be overthrown. As Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump both understand: peace through strength!”
Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday night that eliminating the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader would not escalate but rather end the conflict between Tehran and Jerusalem.
Pressed on the issue, the prime minister said that Jerusalem was “doing what we need to do” to address the threat posed by Iran.
“I’m not going to get into the details, but we’ve targeted their top nuclear scientists,” Netanyahu said, adding, “It’s basically Hitler’s nuclear team.”
Knesset member Michal Woldiger, also from Religious Zionism, said that Israelis—and Jews around the world—are living through “historic moments.”
“I think that every one of us—we are writing history, not just the political leadership, to whom I say, ‘Hats off’ for this brave mission” of attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, Woldiger told JNS. “Many countries were afraid to confront Iran, but we are doing it—and doing it with great success, thank God.”
Woldiger said that it is not only political leaders, soldiers, security officials and pilots who are involved, but every citizen of Israel. The Israeli public understands the gravity of the moment and recognizes that the events unfolding now will reshape the Middle East and the world, she said.
“It will not be a campaign that will last too long. It will not be a war of attrition. It will be a precise war and a just one,” she added.
Woldiger stressed that once the campaign against Iran is completed, Israel will continue its efforts against Hamas and Iranian proxies to fulfill all of its goals in Gaza, including the return of the hostages—approaching the task with bravery and determination.