Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO
President Isaac Herzog speaks from the Western Wall in Jerusalem to the crowd gathered at the “March for Israel” rally in Washington, Nov. 14, 2023
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday received the diplomatic credentials of new ambassadors from five countries:
Stefaan Thijs, ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium; Barbara Mestanova, ambassador of the Slovak Republic; Simon Geissbuhler, ambassador of Switzerland; Alexandra Rydmark, ambassador of Sweden; and Henry Mokono, ambassador of Papua New Guinea, who was taking office as his nation’s first permanent ambassador to Israel.
“These are not ordinary days. We are being challenged by an empire of evil emanating from Tehran, and therefore we are fighting. We are marking one year to the most horrific massacre of Israelis and Jews since the Holocaust down south. That’s why we went to war in Gaza in order to change the entire situation and enable a better future for the Israelis and the Palestinians,” said Herzog.
“And now we are fighting in Lebanon, fighting Hezbollah, to do the same in order to change the equation and enable a better life, first of all, for Israeli citizens on the border, to enable them to come back home. And secondly, of course, I think that there [is] an opportunity [for] the people of Lebanon to have a better future without the oppression of Hezbollah,” the president continued.
“And most importantly, it calls for the international community to be extremely proactive in blocking the aspirations of Iran to derail the region and enable a better future for our region. We don’t have war with the people of Iran,” added Herzog.
“We have 101 hostages out there for a year already in the dungeons and caves of Gaza, in the tunnels of Gaza, going through hell. And we urge the international community now, actually now, following the crisis that’s going on in Lebanon and the Israeli attacks against Hezbollah, which can bring a huge strategic change, to use this opportunity both to bring calm to our border with Lebanon, to enable our citizens to go back home, to bring a better future for the people of Lebanon, and bring our hostages back home,” he concluded.
