Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed his nation on Saturday night, vowing that Israelis will defeat Palestinian Hamas terrorists because ‘We have no other choice.’
Herzog, the country’s ceremonial president, is a unifying figure — a left-wing politician who has served while both left- and right-wing governments have been in office.
He recounted the scenes of the previous 36 hours, reminding Israelis that Palestinian terrorists, who attacked on the Sabbath and on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret. Herzog noted that the terrorists killed Israelis of all ages, male and female, regardless of faith or ethnicity, and wherever they lived, as they were simply going about their lives, simply because they were Israeli.
“These are your enemies, O Israel, and we will overcome them — with the power of the Israel Defense Forces, with our security forces, and with the power of our spirit.”
Herzog noted that he was addressing his fellow citizens — “sisters and brothers” — while fighting was still ongoing, while first responders were bringing aid, and while the dead were still laying where they fell.
He also described the war as one for survival: “This is the choice of our lives: to be armed and ready, strong and prepared, or to let the sword fall from our hands, and to let our lives be destroyed.”
He added: “We are here forever: on our land, in our country, succeeding and building, level upon level, to replace those that are destroyed.”
Herzog said Israel would fight for its right “to be a free nation in our land,” however many wars it would take.
He urged Israelis to put all other political divisions aside and to unite in defense of their country. “There are hard days ahead: this is time to unite in the face of the enemy.”
He noted that he had visited with the families of the wounded and the victims, and that Israel’s enemies had made a terrible decision to attack.
“This time, too, the State of Israel will win. We have no other choice.”
He closed with a prayer, recited frequently by Jewish communities around the world for peace in Israel: “Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.”
Herzog recently addressed a joint session of Congress to thank Americans for their support for Israel’s self-defense, and to praise the U.S.-Israel alliance, which he said would persist despite occasional differences over policy.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
