In a pre-Easter speech that focused on biblical imagery, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday framed Israel’s campaign against Iran and its proxies through the lens of the biblical Exodus, declaring that Israel had dealt its enemies “ten blows” echoing the Ten Plagues.
Netanyahu lists strikes against Hamas, Hezbollah, the fallen regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, Palestinian terrorist groups and the Houthis in Yemen, and five strikes against Iran – targeting its nuclear program, missile capabilities, state infrastructure, repression forces and senior leadership.
Netanyahu then turned to the “ten major achievements” symbolizing those troubles, from a change in strategy against Tehran to the strengthening of alliances, reduced enemy power and Israel’s resilience.
The same is true of the modern conflict as a continuation of the Exodus story, where Israel resists existential threats and emerges strengthened. Netanyahu also urged the Israeli media and the opposition to avoid sending defeatist messages, telling them to “connect to the spirit of the people, the spirit of courage and victory in our great battles.”
On the eve of Passover, “Israel is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his speech. “The whole world hears the roar of our lion,” he added, referring to the “Operation Roaring Lion” of Israel and the United States against the Iranian regime, which he called “evil.” The war has included “huge, wonderful successes,” he said, and “painful costs,” including the loss of four soldiers Tuesday in Lebanon. He expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and expressed solidarity with the injured.
A month after the launch of “our joint campaign with the United States, we are systematically destroying the terrorist regime, which for decades has been calling ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death to America,'” Netanyahu said.
“In every generation there are those who wanted to destroy us,” Netanyahu said in his speech in Hebrew, quoting the Passover poem “Vehi Sheamda,” from the Passover Haggadah and saying “God always breaks them out of their hands.”
In our generation, Netanyahu said, “the regime of the Ayatollah has made a great effort to destroy us, exterminate us, take over the Middle East and threaten the whole world.” These efforts, along with Iran’s nuclear program, cost about three billion dollars, he said. “And now we can say: those trillion dollars have been wasted.”
One of the “plagues” Israel faced in Iran, Netanyahu said, was likened to the disease of the firstborn, or makat bechorot in Hebrew, where God killed all the firstborn of Egypt. The disease facing Iran can best be seen as makat bechirimhe said—in Hebrew the chief officers. Israel and the United States have killed dozens of senior Iranian officials, including Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the campaign.
Netanyahu also talked about the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in 2024, and the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.
Pharaoh tried to harm the Hebrews even after the 10 plagues, Netanyahu recalls, “and we all know how that ended,” referring to the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Iran and its proxies are also trying to hurt Israel even though they have lost, Netanyahu said, and “the war is not over yet.”
Before the current campaign, “we fought Iran alone. Today, we are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the United States, in unprecedented cooperation between [U.S.] The president [Donald] Trump and I, and between the US military and the Israel Defense Forces. Not only have we strengthened our alliance with the United States, we are also building new alliances with key countries in the region against the shared threat of Iran. I hope that soon I will be able to inform you more about these important alliances,” said Netanyahu.
The Iranian regime is “weaker than ever,” Netanyahu continued, and “will fall.”
He mentioned the creation of security zones across Israel’s borders in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, and praised the resilience of Israeli society.
“At a time when some were showing weakness and defeat, we continued the war with full force, beating our enemies with determination and without fear,” he said. “Although others are destroying the relationships we have built, including the United States, we stayed the course and changed the face of the Middle East. We created the conditions to expand our alliances and expand the circle of peace around us,” he added.
