Israeli President Isaac Herzog today at Davos, speaking on the main stage of the World Economic Forum, made clear that there is no peace before Hamas is wiped out and Iran is taken care of. He suggested that Israelis should not be asked to consider any other solution: “If you ask an average Israeli now about his or her mental state, nobody in his right mind is willing now to think about what will be the solution of the peace agreements, because everybody wants to know: Can we be promised real safety in the future?” After Oct. 7, “every Israeli wants to know that he will not be attacked in the same way from north or south or east.” If that sounds ominous, it turns out that it is.
With that premise, he escalated. When asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of peace in exchange for a two-state solution, Herzog explained: “Israel lost trust in the peace processes because they see that terror is glorified by our neighbors.” Then he launched into his “Iran is the enemy” narrative: The “war is not only between Israel and Hamas. The world has to face it point blank: There is an empire of evil emanating from Iran.” Iran’s activities are going to “undermine any peace process and any stability in the world.”
