Israel fighting existential war on seven fronts, Netanyahu says

(JNS) — The Jewish state has been fighting for its existence for the past 365 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, proposing to change the name of the Israel Defense Forces’ multi-front campaign to the “Revival War.

“One year ago, at 6:29 a.m., Hamas terrorists launched a murderous surprise attack on the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting marking one year since the Oct. 7 massacre.

“Since that dark day, we have been fighting,” the premier continued. “Since that dark day, we have been under attack on seven fronts.

“This is the war for our existence—the ‘Revival War.’ This is what I would like to call the war officially,” Netanyahu told the ministers.

The campaign sparked by the Oct. 7 massacre is currently named the “Swords of Iron” war.

“We bow our heads in memory of our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, our parents and elders, who were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists. Children who were murdered in cold blood, women and men who were slaughtered, entire families who were destroyed,” he said.

According to Netanyahu, “The October 7 massacre was the most horrific attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. But unlike in the Holocaust, we rose up against our enemies and fought a fierce war.”

The prime minister vowed to continue the war until all goals as defined by the Cabinet are met: Returning all of the hostages, eliminating Hamas’s capabilities, ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat, and restoring safety for residents on the northern and southern borders.

“We are changing the security reality in our region for the sake of our children and for the sake of our future—to ensure that what happened on October 7 will not happen again. Never again,” Netanyahu continued.

“With God’s help—together we will fight, together we will win,” the leader of the Jewish state stated, concluding by citing from the Book of Samuel: “Netzach Yisrael lo yishaker [‘The eternity of Israel will not lie].”

At the beginning of the Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu lit a candle in memory of the Israelis who were murdered on Oct. 7, and ministers stood for a moment of silence, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

A chapter of Psalms was then recited, as well as the “Mi Shebeirach” prayer for the safety of IDF soldiers and hostages. Ministers were shown footage of atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

At 6:29 a.m., the Israeli flag in the Prime Minister’s Office was lowered to half-mast in mourning for the murdered civilians and fallen soldiers.

Also on Monday, Netanyahu mourned Jerusalem’s fallen at the Swords of Iron monument in the capital’s government campus alongside Mayor Moshe Lion.

“On this day, in this place, and many places in our country, we remember our fallen, our hostages—whom we are obliged to bring home—and our heroes who fell for the defense of the homeland and the country,” the premier said, according to remarks shared by his office.

Roughly 1,200 Israelis were murdered on Oct. 7, with thousands more wounded and some 250 others taken into Gaza. One hundred and one hostages, both living and dead, are still being held by Hamas terrorists.

The death toll among IDF troops stands at 729 on all fronts since Oct. 7, 2023, and at 347 since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27.