Israel’s president has told the JC of his concern for Jews in the Commonwealth after attacks on synagogues and other community sites globally since the outbreak of war with Iran.
Speaking after a spate of recent incidents, Isaac Herzog highlighted in particular Canada, where Jewish sites in Toronto have been targeted at least 18 times since the October 7 assault by Hamas on Israel in 2023.
He recalled writing to King Charles last year before the Yom Kippur terrorist attack in Manchester in which two Jewish men died. “I was extremely worried about potential terror in Commonwealth countries because I have seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic attacks in Canada, Australia and the UK,” he said.
The attack on Heaton Park in Manchester was followed in December by the terrorist assault on a Chanukah celebration in Sydney, Australia, in which jihadi gunmen claimed the lives of 15 victims.
Herzog told the JC that the October 7 attack “started not only as an effort to annihilate Israel but also to derail any peace process”.
He added that he believed the massacre in which 1,200 Israel men, women and children were murdered had achieved the very opposite of Hamas’s intentions, saying it had instead “triggered demands for change” in a region in which other nations were “fed up” and simply wanted peace.
In a separate interview with AFP, Herzog called on other nations to support Israel in its bid to end the threat from terrorists in Lebanon.
He said: “Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now. They should understand that if you want to get anywhere, sometimes you need to win war.”
He welcomed the offer days ago by French President Emmanuel Macron to host a summit between the governments of Israel and Lebanon in Paris.
It comes after recent reports of the imminent prospect of direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut.
Calling Macron’s offer a “very positive development”, Herzog said: “I think it’s very important that there should be talks… because it’s about time we have an opportunity of moving forward with Lebanon.”
Jerusalem has long called on Lebanon to fulfil its obligations under international law to disarm Hezbollah, which has rendered large civilian areas of northern Israel virtually uninhabitable with repeated bombardments.
However, Herzog recognised the civilian government may lack the sheer firepower to quell the Iranian-backed terror militia.
He said: “It should be the Lebanese army that should do the work, but we know that they have their limitations.
“We are demanding from Lebanon and from their army to do the work… All we want with Lebanon is peace.”
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