Israel’s Herzog calls Iran an ‘Empire of Evil,’ hints at possible retaliation

Iran is the real threat to the security situation in the Middle East, the perpetrator behind the Hamas attacks of October 7 and the armed conflict that ensued, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told Al Arabiya News in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

“Clearly, as we see now, this war is being waged on us by the empire of evil, by Iran and its proxies,” he said during an interview with Riz Khan.

He further implied that a plan for retaliation by Israel against Iran was still on the table but did not specify time or nature.

Last week, Iran launched a large-scale retaliation attack on Israel firing volleys of missiles for the killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran as well as Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah and an IRGC commander who were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut. Most of rockets launched were successfully intercepted with only one human casualty, according to Israeli statements.

On October 7 last year, the Palestinian armed group Hamas – backed by Iran – launched an armed incursion into Israel killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Israel in turn launched airstrikes on the besieged strip and launched a ground invasion into Gaza killing over 40,000 people, the majority of them civilians.

Despite expressing sympathy for Israel’s “neighbors” in Gaza, Herzog insisted that the reaction to the October 7 attacks was justified.

“And when we are defending ourselves, we’re defending ourselves from missiles in people’s homes, in people’s shops and people’s mosques, in people’s playgrounds or schools. It’s unbelievably, annoying when you see this in Gaza or in southern Lebanon or throughout Lebanon. It’s unacceptable,” he said.

Herzog denied that the Israeli military was intentionally committing war crimes stressing that it respects international conventions and rules of engagement and added that all those who have violated the rules were arrested and investigated.

“I know, and exactly how we operate. We have, you know, legal counsel to every unit, even small units. We follow the exact rules of international humanitarian law,” he said.

Pre-empting Hezbollah

Beyond that, Herzog justified the killing of Hezbollah chief Nasrallah implying that the group had indeed been planning a major operation in the style of the October 7 attack.

“(…) it was clear that, you know, with the this exchange of fire going on, that they were planning something strategic,” he said.

Iran’s proxy Hezbollah began launching attacks on northern Israel on October 8 in solidarity with Hamas prompting the evacuation of most of the border areas.

After months-long exchanges of cross-border attacks, Israel began launching major air strikes on Lebanon on September 20, killing several high-ranking commanders of the group. The death toll has reached over 2,000 according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. On September 27, Israel bombed Hezbollah’s headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut killing its leader Nasrallah.

Moreover, Herzog called on the people and the political actors in the region, particularly the people of Iran and Lebanon, to face the Iran and its proxies together expressing hope that this was feasible.

“If we confront it and we work together, we surely can hope for a better future and create a NATO like structure in the region that blocks radicalism.”