Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during Monday’s Cabinet meeting that Israel was witnessing “days of historic achievements.”
Israel has scored a series of military successes in recent week’s against Hezbollah in Lebanon, starting with a pager attack on Sept. 17 that killed or wounded most of the Iranian terror proxy’s commanders, and culminating in the targeted killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Sept. 27.
While Israel has not taken responsibility for the pager sabotage, Hezbollah has accused Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency of being behind the attack.
Hezbollah’s sudden reversal of fortune follows 11 months of nearly continuous bombardment by the Iranian proxy militia of Israel’s north.
The Israel Defense Forces’ achievements have revived Netanyahu’s political fortunes. On Sunday, a poll released by Channel 14 and conducted by Direct Polls showed that if elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would emerge as the largest, garnering 31 Knesset seats. The right-religious coalition would win 61 mandates, according to the survey.
Netanyahu’s coalition has been strengthened by New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar, who joined his four-seat party to the government this week, increasing its mandates to 68.
“In light of the current situation, and after consideration, I concluded that there is no point in me continuing to sit in the opposition, where the positions of most of its members on the subject of the war are different and even far removed from mine,” said Sa’ar on Sunday.
Netanyahu told the Cabinet, “First, I would like to greet all of the ministers, and our colleague Gideon Sa’ar, who has joined us.”
The prime minister said that major challenges remain ahead.
“We will face them together and we will do the work that the people of Israel, and the generations of the people of Israel, expect that we will do,” he added.
The prime minister thanked the IDF’s commanders and soldiers, from conscripts to reservists, for “enabling our people to stand tall with pride.”
“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we are in decisive days,” he said.
“While we celebrate the new year, may it be a good one, they will continue to defend our country with that same dedication, sacrifice and heroism that they have shown throughout the past year,” he added.
Netanyahu acknowledged the families of the fallen and those of the hostages [being held by Hamas in Gaza] and wished a quick recovery to all of the wounded. The hostages are “always first and foremost with us, and we will not rest until we return them all,” he said.
He thanked the citizens of Israel for their steadfastness during such a long and difficult period.
“We are in a war for our very existence. We will unite, go hand-in-hand and defeat our enemies. The people will arise like a lioness, and the Eternal One of Israel will not lie. So ends a year and its curses, and with God’s help so begins a year and its blessings,” he concluded.
