In a powerful address on Passover eve, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu infused his speech with biblical symbolism, likening Israel’s ongoing efforts against Iran and its allies to the story of the Exodus. Netanyahu claimed that Israel had delivered “ten blows” to its adversaries, drawing a parallel to the Ten Plagues of Egypt.
Netanyahu detailed these blows as actions against various adversaries: Hamas, Hezbollah, the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, Palestinian militant groups, and the Houthis in Yemen. He highlighted five significant strikes against Iran itself, targeting its nuclear ambitions, missile arsenal, governmental infrastructure, security forces, and top leadership.
He then turned to Israel’s “ten major achievements” in this struggle, which he compared to the biblical plagues. These accomplishments included reversing strategic threats from Tehran, enhancing alliances, reducing enemy capabilities, and showcasing Israel’s enduring strength and resilience.
By drawing this parallel, Netanyahu framed the current conflict as a modern-day extension of the Exodus saga, portraying Israel as a nation facing existential challenges and emerging more robust. He also urged local media and political opponents to avoid defeatist rhetoric, encouraging them to embrace the spirit of courage and victory demonstrated by Israel’s fighters.
“Israel is stronger than ever as we stand on the eve of Passover,” Netanyahu declared at the start of his speech. He emphasized this strength by referring to Israel’s “Operation Roaring Lion,” conducted alongside the United States against what he deemed the “evil” Iranian regime. Despite the operation’s significant successes, he acknowledged the “painful tolls,” including the loss of four soldiers in Lebanon, and extended his condolences to their families and support to the injured.
Reflecting on a month since the initiation of the joint operation with the U.S., Netanyahu said, “We are systematically dismantling the terror regime that for decades chanted ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death to America.’”
“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.
