Czech politicians, both from the government benches and the opposition ANO, have taken to social media to express their support for Israel’s aerial attack on Iranian targets last night, endorsing the Netenyahu government’s arguments that the attack was justified as self-defence in light of Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel launched a large-scale attack against Iran overnight, which Netenyahu’s government said was aimed at the targets related to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programmes. Over 200 Israeli jets struck around 100 targets across Iran, damaging infrastructure associated with the Iranian nuclear sector, and killing dozens of senior military commanders, as well as six nuclear scientists.
Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and his cabinet ministers have used the justification of self-defence to carry out bombing attacks on Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, killing tens of thousands of civilians and reducing much of Gaza to rubble. Netenyahu has continued to reject international calls for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, in favour of military force.
Czech Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Marek Zenisek (TOP 09) described Iran as a threat to the Middle East, and argued that Israel only survives thanks to its “tough defence”.
MP and ANO deputy leader Radek Vondracek wrote on social media that Iran had made no secret of its aim to destroy Israel.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (unaffiliated) also told journalists that he could understand the reasons for the Israeli attack.
“The State of Israel survives only through fierce defense,” said Zenisek. “Europe should stop criticising it and start learning from it. Iran is as much a threat to the Middle East as Russia is to Europe – a dangerous aggressor that threatens peace and stability. That is why it is not possible to be naive and be just hoping.”
Despite widespread support from western countries following the October 7 attacks, Israel’s conduct in the war has increasingly led to fierce criticism, including recently even from France and the United Kingdom. The country’s deliberate blockade of aid entering Gaza has been condemned by many in the United Nations and in humanitarian aid organisations as a serious breach of international law, and calls from Israel’s far-right Finance and National Security Ministers for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territories have led to the imposition of sanctions.
However, the Czech Republic has remained one of the few countries expressing strong and unconditional support for the Netenyahu government’s military campaign, alongside Hungary, the United States, and a handful of US allies.
“The Iranian regime has never made any secret of the fact that its goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Therefore, the nuclear ambitions of the theocratic (Iranian) regime are extremely dangerous,” said Vondracek. “Preemptive Israeli strikes on power centres are a logical step in this regard.”
Lipavsky also expressed understanding for the Israeli attack.
“Iran has long failed to meet its obligations to the international community, building up its nuclear programme. At the same time, it has rhetoric aimed at destroying the State of Israel, twice carrying out large-scale ballistic and drone attacks against Israel in the past year and a half,” Lipavsky told reporters. Together with Hamas and Hezbollah, he said, Iran seeks the destruction of Israel.
Israel itself possesses nuclear weapons, and is thought to maintain a stockpile of between 90 and 400 warheads, though it has never definitively confirmed the existence of its nuclear program. Israel is one of four countries that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), alongside Pakistan, India, and North Korea.
Outside the Czech Republic, European leaders reiterated calls for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for restraint and a return to diplomacy after the Israeli attack on Iran, and said Britain and its allies were working to reduce tensions.
France is also calling for restraint and avoiding any escalation that would threaten stability in the region, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Iran and Israel to prevent any escalation that could threaten the stability of the entire region.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said it was crucial that NATO allies, including the U.S., worked to calm the situation in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
