A leader of Iran’s Jewish community called Wednesday for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joining other community representatives who appeared at the Iranian parliament and demanded revenge against Israel.
“The murderers of Supreme Leader Khamenei must be killed,” said Rabbi Dr. Hakham Hamami Lalehzar, a senior Jewish community figure.
Iranian Jewish community leader calls for killing Trump and Netanyahu
(Video: Tehran Jewish community)
Hamami denounced Israel and called for revenge while citing a verse from the Book of Numbers: “The land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.”
Speaking to Iranian media, he said the Torah teaches that spilled blood can be atoned for only through the spilling of the murderer’s blood.
He described Khamenei’s killing as “the height of ruthlessness and contempt for human life,” saying it proved that “the enemy has no limits.”
Senior Iranian Jewish community figures call for ‘an eye for an eye’
(Photo: Tehran Jewish community)
According to Hamami, the killing of the leaders responsible for the operation against Khamenei should be described as “blood revenge,” because the term carries “a clearer and more precise meaning” and could be better understood regionally and internationally.
“The enemy thought that removing the leader would cause the unity of society to collapse, but the result was the opposite,” he said. “The Iranian people are stronger than ever.”
Homayoun Sameh, the Jewish community’s representative in the Iranian parliament, also attacked the West over what he described as its “double standards toward the terrorism of Israel and the United States.”
“For years, the Islamic Republic of Iran was accused of supporting terrorism,” Sameh said. “Today, they remain silent in the face of attacks by the United States and the Zionist regime against Iranian commanders, officials and civilians.”
The two men participated alongside other Jewish community figures in a conference titled “Fulfilling the Promise of Revenge.”
Sameh said that since the Islamic Revolution, the United States and other “imperialist powers,” aided by sympathetic media outlets, had sought to portray Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.
He accused Western governments and international media organizations of ignoring attacks against Iranians.
“Over the past year, the Zionist regime and the United States, through terrorist operations, have killed many commanders, officials, political and military figures, as well as innocent Iranian women, children and civilians,” he said.
“Despite these crimes, Western governments have not only failed to condemn them, but international media outlets have also remained silent.”
Addressing revenge against Israel, Sameh said punishment of those responsible was rooted in religious values.
“The issue of revenge and confronting injustice holds an important place in religious values, including in the Torah,” he said. “The Torah emphasizes the principle of justice and punishment in accordance with the crime. This is the same concept expressed by the phrase ‘an eye for an eye.’”
He said the Islamic Republic should explain what he described as its legitimate right to retaliate to people around the world, including its enemies.
“Everyone must understand that confronting terrorism and punishing those responsible is a demand arising from justice and the rights of nations,” he said.
Iranian reporter appears live from Strait of Hormuz with rifle: ‘Ready to defend Iranian soil’
The escalating rhetoric was also reflected on Iranian state television, where a reporter who regularly broadcasts from the Strait of Hormuz appeared on air carrying a sniper rifle and said he was “ready to defend Iranian soil.”
The reporter said he held a microphone in one hand for use in the “soft war” and a sniper rifle in the other.
“Like me, many others are carrying weapons and have become guardians of the maritime borders of their homeland,” he said.