Statement from Jim Berk on Israel striking Iran

June 12, 2025

Israel is not seeking escalation; it is seeking survival. After decades of unrelenting attacks by Iran and its terrorist proxies, Israel is acting to defend its citizens from an existential threat that the world has too often chosen to ignore.

The Iranian regime is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. Its weapons, money, and hate-filled ideology have fueled death and chaos across the region from Hezbollah’s strongholds in Lebanon, Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza, and the Houthi network in Yemen. Israel’s defensive strikes reportedly reaching deep into Iranian territory are not provocation, but self-preservation.

We urge global leaders and institutions to start calling Iran what it is: a theocratic dictatorship bent on Israel’s and the West’s destruction. Israel has the right and the duty to defend its people. No sovereign nation would tolerate what Israel has endured; the world shouldn’t expect Israel to either. As always, the Simon Wiesenthal Center stands firmly with Israel in its fight against terrorism and in defense of its right to exist in peace and security.

For further information, please email Erik Simon at esimon@wiesenthal.com, Deborah Camiel at dcamiel@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your X feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).