President Isaac Herzog poses for a photograph as he gives an interview at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, on March 16, 2026. (OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)
'All we want with Lebanon is peace'

Herzog: Europe should back effort to ‘eradicate’ Hezbollah, Iran war a ‘historical juncture’

‘They should understand that if you want to get anywhere, sometimes you need to win war,’ president tells AFP; welcomes Macron’s offer to host Jerusalem-Beirut talks as ‘very positive development’

by · The Times of Israel

President Isaac Herzog told AFP Monday that Europe should back Israel’s fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon.

In an exclusive interview at his Jerusalem residence, the Israeli head of state also said the US-Israeli war with Iran marked a “historical juncture.”

“Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now,” Herzog said.

“They should understand that if you want to get anywhere, sometimes you need to win war.”

The Israel Defense Forces announced Monday it was conducting “limited” ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to end the Iran-backed terror group’s rocket attacks.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes against areas of southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites or operatives.

IDF troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued by the military on March 16, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Lebanese authorities say that more than one million people have been displaced inside the country in the two weeks of fighting.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday offered to host direct negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments in Paris, saying that Beirut was ready to engage.

Herzog, whose role is mainly ceremonial, welcomed the proposal as a “very positive development.”

“I think it’s very important that there should be talks,” he said.

“Talks are very important, because it’s about time we have an opportunity of moving forward with Lebanon.”

So far, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given no public indication that talks with Beirut are on the table.

Lebanese army ‘limitations’

Israeli officials have repeatedly railed against the Lebanese authorities for what they say are failures to honor a commitment to disarm Hezbollah.

“It should be the Lebanese army that should do the work, but we know that they have their limitations,” he said.

“We are demanding from Lebanon and from their army to do the work…All we want with Lebanon is peace.”

A firefighter works to extinguish at the site of a Hezbollah rocket strike in the northern coastal city of Nahariya on March 16, 2026. (Odd Andersen/AFP)

In recent days, Hezbollah and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

The Israeli military said on Monday that since the latest fighting began, “more than 400 (Hezbollah) terrorists have been eliminated.”

Lebanese authorities said the death toll in Israeli attacks rose to nearly 900.

A Shiite movement, Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon with the support of Iran in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion of the country to drive out Palestinian terrorists.

Hezbollah gained significance across the Arab world after Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 following more than 22 years of occupation, and later fighting against Israel during an inconclusive month-long war it triggered in the summer of 2006.

Over the years, the terrorist organization built what many describe as a state within a state in Lebanon. It emerged severely weakened from its last confrontation with Israel in 2023-2024 after joining the hostilities triggered by its Palestinian ally Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel from Gaza.

Portraits of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the Islamic Revolution’s Iranian founder Ayatollah Khomeini are seen in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Since a ceasefire came into force in October 2024, Israel has repeatedly demanded Hezbollah’s disarmament, regularly bombing its positions while accusing the Lebanese authorities of failing to carry out the task themselves.

‘Time for doing’

Talking about the broader US-Israeli war with Iran war, Herzog said: “We are at a historical juncture.”

“There comes a moment that after well over a generation of endless wars, bloodshed and terror, the root cause of it, which comes from Tehran, will be blocked and stopped, and the whole direction of the region will change,” he continued.

He insisted defeating the clerical authorities in Iran was “in the innermost national security interests of Europe.”

Herzog said that Iran had been seeking “10 times the amount of ballistic missiles, which would have threatened Europe big time.”

“After talking and talking for a whole generation, it’s about time for doing,” he said.

Iranian security forces stand guard next the banners showing portraits of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Herzog reiterated Israeli hopes that the people of Iran “will rise up,” as he insisted that the broader international community should assist the joint offensive with the United States against Tehran.

“Where is the whole world? Rather than all the time criticising Israel, let’s help us. Let’s help the Americans,” he said.

“Let’s help us bring a real change so that there will be a different future in the region.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.