Yaron Sideman

This morning, I spoke with @Pontifex Pope Leo XIV to exchange greetings for the Passover and Easter holidays. During our call, we discussed the war with Iran, including the ongoing threat of missile attacks by the Iranian regime and its terror proxies against people of all faiths in the region. I recalled the recent Iranian missile attacks on Jerusalem that fell in the area of sites holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The people of Iran also deserve a better future free from this dangerous and violent regime of terror. We also spoke about the situation in Lebanon, including the importance of the safety and security of Christian communities on both sides of the border. I emphasized that the Hezbollah terror organization cannot be allowed to continue threatening both the people of Israel and Lebanon, who both deserve a future of peace and stability. I expressed to Pope Leo XIV the great importance of the State of Israel's relationship with the Holy See, the Catholic Church, and Christians around the world. I also underscored the importance of the cooperation of all world and religious leaders in the crucial fight against antisemitism. I extended my warmest wishes for the Easter holiday to Christian communities across the Middle East and around the world. We expressed our shared hope for a more peaceful future for people of all faiths across the world free from the threat of violence and bloodshed.

We stand just hours before the holiday of Passover. The Festival of Freedom. The holiday of the Exodus from slavery to freedom. From bondage to redemption. Tonight, around the Seder table, we'll ask: "Why is this night different?" In our national soul-searching, it's important that we know how to answer this question well and precisely. There's no freedom without the willingness to defend it. Most of us were privileged to be born into a sovereign and free Jewish state in the land of our ancestors, after 2,000 years of exile. We were born into freedom and statehood after generations of exile, persecution, and destruction. From Ze’ev Jabotinsky, we learned and internalized: "The God who created iron - did not want slaves." But there is no freedom without the willingness to defend it. Without the willingness to fight. Israel has fought for its existence since the day it was born. The truth is that there hasn't been a single day in which we have not stood on guard, in which we haven't fought. From the founding of the state until today. The song "I promise you, my little girl, that this will be the last war” is a beautiful and even moving song. But - "the best of the song - is its falsehood." It had no basis in reality then, and sadly, has none today. The existence of the Jewish people in its land can and will only be secured by the willingness to fight and by building the strength required to do so. We stood before a danger of elimination. Our enemies, chief among them the Ayatollah regime in Iran, devised a plan of elimination. Not only through clear public declarations revealing their intentions. Not merely as an abstract aspiration, but as a concrete plan. A "conventional" elimination plan through huge quantities of ballistic missiles alongside ground forces of their proxies on Israel's borders. A multi-front invasion combined with unimaginable volumes of ballistic missile fire. Intelligence captured during the war across various fronts after Oct. 7th, 2023, confirms this beyond any doubt. Alongside this, the mad Iranian regime advanced its nuclear program, step by step, with the aim of obtaining nuclear weapons to enable elimination through non-conventional means. The historic decisions we made in the Security Cabinet in June 2025 and February 2026 were, simply, decisions to remove the threat of elimination that hung over the Jewish people in their land. Every such decision carries costs and involves risks. But the dangers we prevented are far greater. I'm proud to have been part of these decisions in the inner Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and of the opportunity I was given to defend Israel on the diplomatic front. Today, we can say: We've removed the threat of elimination. We still have bitter and cruel enemies, but they've been dealt a severe blow. We don't promise that this will be the "last war." We'll need, in the future too, to remain vigilant against the schemes of our enemies. But had we not chosen to act against existential threats and had the IDF and other security forces not carried out these decisions in an inspiring manner, we would've left Israel in an impossible situation. Yes, they can still fire at us. No, they can no longer place us in existential danger. We're obligated to preserve this achievement. Reality is dynamic, not static. We'll do so by strengthening Israel’s power - militarily, diplomatically, economically, and technologically. We'll do so through the willingness to fight. These will always be the two necessary conditions: the power and the willpower. The meaning of the decisions we made is one: Israel won't agree to live under the threat of elimination. Not in the present and not in the future. Our determination to defend our freedom and the State of Israel is absolute. With God’s help, we shall do and we shall succeed, for "the Eternity of Israel will not lie." Happy Festival of Freedom! A kosher and joyful Passover to all the people of Israel!

A war where Iran bombs Jerusalem and the many holy sites located there. During Ramadan and now this week, Passover & Easter. Israel protects the holy sites of all religions.

I am glad that the matter has been resolved swiftly and efficiently, in a manner that maintains freedom of worship while protecting human life.

I have instructed the relevant authorities that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, be granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles. In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To protect worshippers, Israel asked members of all faiths to temporarily abstain from worshipping at the Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City. Today, out of special concern for his safety, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked to refrain from holding mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even though I understand this concern, as soon as I learned about the incident with Cardinal Pizzaballa, I instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes.

I just called the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to express my great sorrow over this morning's unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem, in which Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, the Most Reverend Fr. Francesco Ielpo, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for prayers amid the ongoing security situation. I clarified that the incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents in which Iranian missiles fell in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days. I reaffirmed the State of Israel's unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.

Israel is committed to maintaining freedom of worship while ensuring safety and security, in the face of Iranian missiles that threaten both.

All safety and precautionary instructions in the Old City are a direct result of Iranian missile fire. As is known, the Iranian regime has fired on the Old City on multiple occasions, striking sites in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Western Wall. In light of this, and in order to protect the lives of worshippers of all faiths, precautionary instructions have been issued for all holy sites of all religions, and mass gatherings are not possible. The concern over a mass-casualty event in the Old City is particularly acute given the area’s density and the difficulty of deploying first responders in such an incident. The police will meet with Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and work to explore solutions that allow for as normal a routine as possible while ensuring public safety.

The persecution of Christian communities in Syria, Iran and elsewhere, should be of deep concern to all.

Hezbollah abuses churches and civilian sites for military purposes. In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah built terrorist infrastructure and tunnel shafts in the vicinity of a church in Al-Khiyam—including some constructed during the ceasefire. The deliberate use of civilian religious institutions for military purposes constitutes a violation of international law.

🇮🇱 Israeli diplomat, Arezoo Hersel-Rohila, born & raised in Tehran, gets nostalgic every year when Nowruz comes round. Next year in Tehran 🇮🇷?

Copyright Vatican media

I was honored to participate in a meeting between his holiness Pope Leo XIV and Dani Dayan, Chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. An opportunity to discuss the responsibility of ensuring Holocaust rembrence and curbing the growing surge in antisemitism.

The Iranian regime devastated Arad and Dimona by deliberately striking civilians with missiles. Over 100 people were injured, including children. A blatant war crime. Pure terrorism.

The Iranian “gift” for Eid al-Fitr: Missiles on Al-Aqsa. The Iranian attack on the holy sites sacred to all three religions reveals the madness of the Iranian regime, which claims to be religious.

“The Jewish community is attacked at a far higher rate than any other religious group in the United States,” Archbishop Alexander Sample said. “We must clearly speak out against antisemitism.” catholicnewsagency.com/news/270609/ar…

Words of wisdom

Hitting Jerusalem's holiest sites once again exposes the Iranian regime’s violent and barbaric nature, that every civilized person should condemn. Israel, meanwhile, continues to protect the holy sites of all religions and ensures freedom of worship for all.

Last night, an Iranian missile exploded above Jerusalem, causing damage on the compound of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on the Temple Mount near of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and near the Western Wall.