"Israel is facing challenging times as it battles Iran’s axis of evil," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a message to the Israeli public on the eve of the Jewish New Year, one day after IDF forces entered southern Lebanon for the first since 2006.
“We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran's axis of evil,” Netanyahu said, as he referred to Israel’s battles with the Islamic Republic’s proxy group. These are primarily Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Israel is also braced for the possibility of a direct Iranian attack, he said.
“I said yesterday that these are days of great achievements and great challenges,” Netanyahu said, as he referenced the successful IDF assassination last week of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
“Great achievements because we thwarted Nasrallah and his top command and Hezbollah's plan to occupy the Galilee,” he said.
Eliminating the threat from Hezbollah
The elimination of the threat from Hezbollah is an essential step in returning the over 60,000 northern residents to their homes on Israel’s northern border, he explained.
“We are determined” to do this,” Netanyahu stated.
At the same time he called on Israelis to do two things, first to obey Home Front Command directives and second “to stand together.”