President Isaac Herzog criticized Britain’s prime minister for what he described as a feeble response to Iranian terror and said that while regime change in Tehran was not an official Israeli war aim, such a shift could help bring peace between Israelis and Iranians and transform the wider Middle East, in an interview with StandWithUs.
In the wide-ranging interview, conducted by StandWithUs Israel executive director Michael Dickson at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Herzog returned repeatedly to two themes: Europe’s failure to grasp the scale of the Iranian threat, and the possibility that the current war could create conditions for historic political change in Iran.
The interview was based on questions submitted by social media followers around the world and covered the war effort, US-Israel ties, antisemitism, the hostages, and the future of the Abraham Accords.
Speaking about the war with Iran, Herzog said Israel was striking at what he called the regime’s two central tools of threat: its nuclear ambitions and long-range missile program. He said Israel was “absolutely winning the war” in that respect and argued that the fighting had already set Iran back by years.
Herzog added that a change inside Iran was a desirable outcome, though he stopped short of defining it as a formal objective.
Herzog also used the interview to deliver one of his sharpest public rebukes yet of European complacency. Referring to the reach of Iranian missiles, he said Israel was effectively defending Europe by confronting Tehran now. He pointed to an Iranian missile launch of 4,000 kilometers toward Diego Garcia and warned that such a range covered all of Europe, including Britain.
Herzog slams UK response to Iran, warns Europe
European leaders, he said, were being dangerously naive and needed to read the regime’s ideology more seriously because “you’re next.”
His criticism of Britain was even more pointed when he turned to Iranian terror activity on UK soil. Herzog mocked what he said was the British prime minister’s reference to roughly 10 to 20 Iran-linked terror incidents in the previous year, presenting that figure as evidence of a deeply inadequate response.
Iran, Herzog said, operated directly and through proxies, spent billions on terror, and had built cells across the globe. The implication was clear: London was still treating an aggressive ideological regime as a manageable nuisance instead of a strategic threat.
That line fit into Herzog’s broader case that Iran had repeatedly sabotaged diplomatic openings in the region. He claimed that Iranian-backed violence, bloodshed, and disruption had met every serious effort toward peace.
Europe, the region, and the wider international community, he argued, needed to say “no more” and confront Tehran with far greater seriousness. He described the Iranian regime as a rogue state and said it “must be crushed,” framing the current confrontation as part of a wider battle over the future of the Middle East.
Alongside that warning, Herzog offered an unexpectedly hopeful vision of what could come after the war. He said he had been moved by scenes of Jews and Iranians demonstrating together in cities such as London and Athens, and spoke of genuine affinity between Israeli and Iranian expatriate communities.
If the political equation in Tehran changed, he said, peace between Israel and Iran was possible and could be “fantastic” for both peoples. That prospect, he suggested, was part of the larger regional realignment already visible in the Abraham Accords.
Herzog also praised US President Donald Trump and the current American administration, saying ties between Washington and Jerusalem had strengthened significantly during the war. He thanked Trump for what he called a bold and historic decision that had changed the direction of the Middle East, and he highlighted the role of American service members working alongside allies in the region.
The comments reflected Herzog’s effort to place the Iran campaign within a broader Western and regional coalition rather than as a narrow Israeli operation.
The interview also touched on the domestic and human cost of the war. Herzog said he and first lady Michal Herzog had visited more than 1,700 bereaved families since the October 7 massacre and described the current period as one of the most difficult any Israeli president had faced.
He spoke of missile-hit sites across the country, wounded civilians, and extraordinary volunteerism by first responders and soldiers, presenting Israeli resilience as part of the same story as the regional fight against Iran.
Asked about rising antisemitism abroad, Herzog referred to the recent arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in London and said Jews worldwide were facing a major surge in antisemitic activity.
He said he had spoken with Hatzola leadership and stressed that Jews in Israel and the Diaspora were in the struggle together. That message, like his criticism of Britain’s government, placed the Iranian threat far beyond the battlefield, casting it as a challenge that touched Europe’s streets, Jewish communities abroad, and the political future of the region itself.