Summary

Netanyahu casts Iran war as modern Exodus in Passover address In a Passover eve address steeped in 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 listed strikes against Hamas, Hezbollah, Bashar Assad’s fallen regime in Syria, Palestinian terror groups and the Houthis in Yemen, alongside five direct blows to Iran — targeting its nuclear program, missile capabilities, regime infrastructure, repression forces and senior leadership. Netanyahu then pivoted to “ten major achievements” mirroring those plagues, from a strategic reversal against Tehran to strengthened alliances, degraded enemy capabilities and Israel’s resilience. The parallel cast the modern conflict as a continuation of the Exodus narrative, in which Israel withstands existential threats and emerges strengthened. Netanyahu also urged the Israeli media and opposition to refrain from defeatist messaging, telling them to “plug into the spirit of the people, the spirit of bravery and victory of our great fighters.” On the eve of Passover, “Israel is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his address. “The entire world hears our lion’s roar,” he added, referencing Israel’s “Operation Roaring Lion” with the United States against the Iranian regime, which he called “evil.” The fight features “monumental, tremendous achievements,” he said, alongside “painful tolls,” including the loss of four troops on Tuesday in Lebanon. He offered his condolences to the families of the fallen and expressed solidarity with the wounded. A month after the launch “of our joint campaign with the United States, we are systematically crushing the regime of terror, which for decades had called out ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death to America,’” said Netanyahu. “In every generation there have been those who sought to destroy us,” Netanyahu said in his address, which he delivered in Hebrew, quoting the Passover poem “Vehi Sheamda,” which is in the Passover Haggadah and states that “God always rescues us from their hands.” In our generation, Netanyahu said, “the Ayatollah regime has made a massive effort to destroy us, to annihilate us, to take over the Middle East and threaten the whole world.” These efforts, and Iran’s nuclear program, cost nearly one trillion dollars, he said. “And now we can say: those trillion dollars have gone to waste.” One of the “plagues” that Israel dealt Iran, Netanyahu said, was comparable to the plague of the firstborns, or makat bechorot in Hebrew, in which God killed all of the firstborns of the Egyptians. The plague against Iran can be better characterized as makat bechirim, he said—Hebrew for senior officials. Israel and the United States have killed dozens of Iranian senior officials, among them the former spiritual leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the campaign. Netanyahu also mentioned the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, in 2024, and of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Pharaoh tried to hurt the Hebrews even after the 10 plagues, Netanyahu recalled, “and we all know how that ended,” referencing the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Iran and its proxies are also trying to hurt Israel despite their losses, Netanyahu said, and “the fight is not over yet.” Before the current campaign, “we fought Iran alone. Today, we are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the United States, in an unprecedented historic cooperation between [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump and myself, and between the U.S. military and the Israel Defense Forces. Not only have we strengthened our alliance with the United States, we are also forging new alliances with important countries in the region against the shared Iranian threat. I hope that soon, citizens of Israel, I will be able to tell you more about these important alliances,” said Netanyahu. Iran’s regime is “weaker than ever,” Netanyahu continued, and “is destined to collapse.” He noted the creation of security zones beyond Israel’s borders in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, and praised Israeli society’s resilience. “At a time when there were those who showed weakness and defeatism, we continued the war with full force, striking our enemies with determination and without fear,” he said. “While some dismissed the relationships we built, including with the United States, we stayed the course and changed the face of the Middle East. We created the conditions to expand our alliances and broaden the circle of peace around us,” he added.