JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says world leaders want the Jewish nation to go easy on striking back at Iran for last weekend's massive attack.
“But I want to make clear that we will make our own decisions and the state of Israel will do all that is needed to defend itself," Netanyahu stated.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi threatened Israel Wednesday, warning, "If they do a tiniest invasion against our territory, they should be assured that they will face a massive and harsh response."
In Sunday's attack, Iran and its proxies showed they have firepower.
Former Israeli Aerial Defense Force commander Brig. Gen (Res.) Doron Gavish noted, "In the military history, this is the largest attack that ever happened: the combination of all those missiles, UAVs, and cruise missiles."
Israel Aerospace Industries CEO Boaz Levy, whose company helped contribute to the nation's hugely successful defense, explained, "No system can give you a hermetic seal. But we did succeed to have 99 percent of success."
Even with the aerospace industry's prowess, Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein looks at the event from a different perspective. He told CBN News there's only one explanation. "We were all witness to nothing short of a miracle of biblical proportions. I think it's going to take a little while for the full effect of the facts to set in."
Iran's president boasted that his country can strike Israel so hard, it will ensure "the complete annihilation of the Zionist regime."
Brigadier General Gavish assured Iran that Israel would be ready.
"We are preparing ourselves for the next time, debriefing the mission, and seeing how could we prepare ourselves for the next attack, if it would come," Gavish said.
Wednesday, a Hezbollah drone strike wounded 14 soldiers and four civilians in the northern Israeli town of Arab al-Aramshe.
Hezbollah said it avenged Israeli strikes this week that killed three of its members, two of them commanders.
In the almost daily attacks since October 8th, Hezbollah has killed 10 Israeli soldiers and eight civilians.
Hezbollah claims Israeli counter-strikes have killed 278 members of the terror group.
Israel now faces another threat on the diplomatic front. Friday, the U.N. Security Council will hold a vote on a Palestinian request for full membership. That move, which could lead to the recognition of a Palestinian state, is expected to be blocked by the U.S.
Meanwhile, families of the Israeli hostages in Gaza got a boost when Time Magazine named American-Israeli Rachel Goldberg-Polin as one of the world's top 100 most influential people.
Her 23-year-old son Hersch was kidnapped and remains in Gaza.
She told CBN News hope in God is very important.
"My faith gives me tremendous hope," Goldberg shared. "I don't know how I can do this without knowing that someone is in charge of this whole complicated, painful, difficult situation."
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