On Sunday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister attended a reading of the Book of Esther with commanders and soldiers from the various crossings and the Military Police Erez Battalion.

After the reading, the PM addressed the attendees:

“I am very impressed by your work at all times but especially now, when the challenges facing you have grown significantly, to put it mildly. The missions have become greater as have your efforts.

“You defend the State of Israel and the citizens of Israel around the clock, in various missions, while assuming risks and sometimes with sacrifice. I want to commend you and tell you – well done. Thank you very much.

“I want to thank the rabbi not only for the flawless reading but also for your important remarks regarding the reading, which were not extraneous but go to the heart of the matter.

“Today we mark the holiday of Purim. More than 2,000 years ago in ancient Persia, an antisemitic enemy arose, the wicked Haman, who sought to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the Earth. The Jews stood up, united together, fought and won a total victory.

Netanyahu hinted that Persia, the setting for the Purim story, was the host of a new enemy.

“Today in modern Persia, there is a new enemy – the Iranian regime, which seeks to destroy the state of the Jews. We have already seen what Hamas, one of this enemy’s proxies, did on October 7, which President Biden also called sheer evil.”

“It is impossible to defeat the sheer evil by leaving it intact in Rafah. As in ancient times, like our brothers, we are also united. We are fighting and will be victorious. We will enter Rafah and achieve total victory. We eliminated Haman and we will also eliminate Sinwar.

חיסלנו את המן. נחסל גם את סינוואר. pic.twitter.com/0GhKc5JWrN

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 24, 2024

In the Purim story, Haman is an Agagite and a descendant of the nation of Amalek, Israel’s perennial enemy that Israel is commanded by the Torah to entirely wipe out.

His comments on Rafah came after US Vice President Kamala Harris warned that “Any major military operation in Gaza would be a huge mistake” in an interview Sunday.