TEL AVIV – Just as the Persians failed to wipe out the Jewish nation some 2,500 years ago, the Iranians of today will also fail, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Purim.
The prime minister made his remarks before the reading of the Scroll of Esther at the central synagogue in Caesarea, the Jerusalem Post reported. He turned to the children surrounding him in costumes traditionally worn on Purim and asked them: “What is the holiday about, what do we celebrate, what do we remember, what did they try to do to us then?”
Several children replied, “To kill us.”
“Where?” Netanyahu asked.
“In Persia,” they answered.
“Did they succeed?” the prime minister asked.
“No,” one child said, “the opposite happened.”
“It didn’t happen, the opposite happened,” Netanyahu repeated. “Also, today they want to destroy us from Persia; they will not succeed.”
His comment was met with applause from the congregation.
On Thursday, Netanyahu compared the Islamic Republic to ancient Persia in his comments to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I thank you for your good wishes on Purim,” the prime minister told Putin. “Some 2,500 years ago in ancient Persia, there was an attempt to wipe out the Jews, which did not succeed, and which we commemorate with this holiday.” READ MORE
