PM Netanyahu at official Yom Hashoah ceremony. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

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“In the Holocaust we were helpless, defenseless and voiceless,” Netanyahu said. “Today, we have a strong country, a strong army, and our voice is heard among the nations.”

By: JNS and United with Israel Staff

On Yom HaShoah, Israel’s national Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Jewish state remains “steadfast” in preventing Iranian aggression amid ongoing threats.

“We are preventing Iranian activity in Syria. These are not just words,” Netanyahu said in his speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial marking the commencing of Yom Hashoah.

“Our policy can be summed up in three words: ‘Steadfastness against aggression.’ Steadfastness on defense, steadfastness on deterrence, steadfastness against anyone who threatens to destroy us,” Netanyahu underscored.

Netanyahu’s remarks come just days after Israel purportedly carried out an airstrike against a Syrian military base where Iran is also operating. Israel has not confirmed it was behind the airstrike, which left 14 dead, including at least seven Iranian military personnel.

The Israeli leader, who has often noted that Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons is an existential threat to Israel, said that recent events “teach us that standing up to evil and aggression is the mission imposed on every generation.”

Iran has repeatedly threatened to wipe Israel of the face of the map.

In June, Iran unveiled a digital clock in Tehran’s center counting down the days to what it says will be the destruction of Israel in 2040.  The time frame appears to stem from comments made in 2015 by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who vowed there will be “nothing” left of Israel in 25 years. Khamenei proclaimed, “You [Israelis] will not see the coming 25 years and, God willing, there will not be something named the Zionist regime in next 25 years.”

“In the Holocaust we were helpless, defenseless and voiceless,” Netanyahu said. “In truth, our voice was not heard at all. Today, we have a strong country, a strong army, and our voice is heard among the nations.”