By Ayomide Otitoju
Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel, in coordination with the United States, has delivered the “heaviest blow” ever inflicted on Iran’s leadership, as the country marked the beginning of its annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Speaking on Monday at a state ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Iran’s ruling establishment had been significantly weakened.
“We delivered the heaviest blow in that regime’s history. It stands weaker than ever before,” he said.
Israel has been engaged in a multi-front conflict since October 7, 2023, when Hamas, an Iran-backed Palestinian militant group, attacked Israeli territory, triggering the war in Gaza and drawing in allied groups across the region.
“For two-and-a-half years, we have been systematically crushing the Iranian axis of evil,” Netanyahu said, referring to operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the occupied West Bank.
He also drew a comparison between Iran’s nuclear facilities and Nazi extermination camps, warning of the consequences had Israel not acted against sites including Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Parchin.
Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which runs from Monday evening to Tuesday evening, commemorates the six million Jews killed during the Second World War by Nazi Germany.
The annual observance, based on the Hebrew calendar, is distinct from the international memorial held on January 27.
This year’s commemoration comes amid a fragile ceasefire in the regional conflict with Iran, which followed joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets earlier this year.
Despite the truce, fighting continues between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.
