New Israeli Foreign Minister Katz warns: Israel is waging 'World War III' against radical Islam

Incoming Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned during a ceremony in Jerusalem that Israel is now “at the height of World War III against Iran and radical Islam.”

His comment was made while referring to Israel's war against Iran's terror proxy in Gaza, the Hamas terror organization, and the other terror forces that threaten the existence of the Jewish state.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a leading sponsor of international terrorism through its Jihadist proxies such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and numerous pro-Iranian terror groups in Iraq and Syria.

Katz, a veteran Likud party lawmaker, is replacing Eli Cohen as Israel's foreign minister under their rotation deal, and vowed that “we will achieve our goal of toppling Hamas.”

Cohen will replace Katz as the nation's minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

Israel's three stated war goals are the elimination of Hamas, the rescue of the Israeli and international hostages and the long-term demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing war in the Gaza Strip was launched on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists and their accomplices invaded Israel and massacred more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

Israel’s new top diplomat vowed to focus on bringing home the remaining hostages, more than 100 Israelis and foreign nationals, who are still being held captive by Hamas and allied terrorists.

“Our commitment as a country and as a ministry is first of all to bring the hostages home with new initiatives, to exert global pressure,” Katz stated.

The incoming foreign minister emphasized that securing the release of the hostages would be his top priority.

“The hostages. The hostages. The hostages,” Katz wrote on the social media platform X, former Twitter.

According to Katz, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has succeeded in securing “support that no one thought we would receive,” concerning the release of the hostages from captivity in Gaza.

While the exact locations of the remaining hostages are officially unknown, most remaining hostages are believed to be held somewhere in southern Gaza, as Israel has largely taken control over the northern part of the coastal enclave.

Serving previously as foreign minister in 2019, Katz caused a serious diplomatic crisis between Israel and Poland when he claimed: "Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk," and added that "there were many Poles who collaborated with the Nazis."

Israel also opposed the former conservative Polish government’s attempt to pass legislation that criminalizes any criticism of the conduct of individual Polish citizens during the Second World War.

While it is historically true that some Poles did collaborate with the Nazis, others risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbors during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.

The diplomatic crisis led to both countries withdrawing their respective ambassadors from Warsaw and Tel Aviv. In July 2023, Poland and Israel ended the diplomatic dispute by exchanging ambassadors.