‘Pure evil,’ says Herzog at sites of Iranian attacks

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog was deeply distressed at what he saw when went to visit some of the sites of the deadly Iranian missile strikes in Israel this week.

“What I saw upstairs in the destroyed apartment is evil, pure evil in and of itself,” he said outside a destroyed apartment block in Petah Tikvah on Monday, 16 June, where four civilians were killed in the attack.

“It’s evil aimed at innocent civilians all over Israel. But I have news for the Iranian regime. If you think you’re going to tire us or fatigue us, you’re absolutely wrong. We’re a strong, resilient nation with strong capabilities in all fields. I think you’re feeling it out there in Iran, and the Iranian people are fed up and want change. So, of course, does the entire region. We deserve change,” the president said.

“Iran has for decades been spreading havoc and terror, radicalising nations, creating an unstable atmosphere in so many places, having terror cells all over the world, and placing its proxies, armed to the teeth, in order to annihilate Israel, and of course, rushing to the nuclear bomb. Well, we don’t intend to be scapegoats again, and we’re fighting as much as possible.

“I call upon the leaders of the free world convening in Canada at the G7 Summit. They should stand up for us and make two things clear: Iran mustn’t have any capability of producing nuclear weapons; and our hostages must be brought back as soon as possible, until the last one.”

On Sunday, Herzog visited the site of the Bat Yam strike where a number of Israelis were killed, dozens injured, and rescue forces were still searching for missing people. Standing outside the remains of the building, he told the media, “The empire of evil cannot continue to attack us, send its proxies and its terror, its missiles, and of course, develop nuclear capability, which is the most dangerous capability for humanity.”

Accompanied by Israel’s first lady, Michal Herzog, he said, “Civilians of all ages, all backgrounds, Jews and Muslims, young and old, veteran Israelis and new immigrants, Holocaust survivors and toddlers, have been killed by a horrendous Iranian attack against our cities.

“Iran has decided that it will attack civilians, no matter where and no matter what. And we, of course, will continue to defend ourselves,” Herzog said.

“Our aim is to change the reality in the Middle East. We’re defending not only Israel, but the Middle East, humanity itself, world peace, and I call upon the leaders of the G7 who will convene tomorrow in Canada to be with us, because if you want to get the nukes out, you had better work together, with us and make sure that Iran doesn’t reach its capability and that our region can move to peace, dialogue, coexistence, and rapprochement.”