In a Passover eve address steeped in biblical imagery, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday framed Israel’s campaign against its inemies through the lens of the biblical Exodus, declaring that Israel had dealt its enemies “ten blows” echoing the Ten Plagues. He 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.
The parallel cast the modern conflict as a continuation of the Exodus narrative, in which Israel withstands existential threats and emerges strengthened. “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.”
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. The Prime-Minister also mentioned the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, 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.” “The fight is not over yet. 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.
