Camille Naredo

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 3, 2020, shows him visiting the family of killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani (picture), in the capital Tehran. Khamenie.IR, AFP/File

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 3, 2020, shows him visiting the family of killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani (picture), in the capital Tehran.

Article (news)

IRAN

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1772384991245030126_ayatollah Khamenei.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A handout picture provided by the office of Iran&#x27;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 3, 2020, shows him visiting the family of killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani (picture), in the capital Tehran. Khamenie.IR, AFP/File" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A handout picture provided by the office of Iran&#x27;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 3, 2020, shows him visiting the family of killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani (picture), in the capital Tehran. <em>Khamenie.IR, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israelis on Sunday celebrated the death of Iran&#x27;s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, their country&#x27;s sworn enemy, who was killed the day before in a US-Israeli joint attack.</p><p>&quot;Khamenei (was) a leader of the same sort as other autocrats (like) Hitler... and when you cut off the head of the snake, the snake can no longer rise again,&quot; Moti Arad, a lawyer in Tel Aviv, told AFP.</p><p>With Khamenei dead, &quot;the situation is the best it can be for the Middle East and for the entire world, the whole free world, because now we are on the path to regime change in Iran... and then there will be peace in the Middle East,&quot; Moti said.</p><p>Like a final verdict, the word &quot;hussal&quot;, or eliminated in Hebrew, spread across the front page of Yedioth Aharonot, the country&#x27;s most widely circulated daily newspaper.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/3/1/iranian-leader-ali-khamenei-reported-killed-in-us-israel-attack-0833">READ: Iranian leader Ali Khamenei killed in US, Israel attack</a></div><p>Israel&#x27;s television channel 12, the most watched, used the same word, below a photo of Iran&#x27;s supreme guide circled by a red target.</p><p>&quot;Death of a tyrant,&quot; read the front page of Maariv, another daily, in reference to the man who saw Israel as &quot;a malign tumour that must be eradicated&quot;.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Happy for Iranians&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Israeli Jews of Iranian origin also welcomed Khamenei&#x27;s death.</p><p>&quot;We have every reason to be satisfied here in Israel,&quot; said Ilan Aghajani, director of the Association of Iranian-Origin Israelis.</p><p>&quot;Only by removing Khamenei and dismantling his entire regime can real regime change occur,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;When that happens, we will be able to visit Iran freely, and Iranians will be able to visit us,&quot; said Aghajani, head of the largest organisation of Parsim, Jews of Iranian origin.</p><p>&quot;I am happy for the Iranian people.&quot;</p><p>For Israel&#x27;s polarised political landscape, Khamenei&#x27;s death and the attack that led to it came as a rare consensus.</p><p>&quot;Justice has been done, and the axis of evil has suffered a crushing blow,&quot; Defence Minister Israel Katz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#x27;s ruling right-wing Likud party, trumpeted on social media.</p><p>&quot;Congratulations to the security forces for the elimination of Khamenei. Let all our enemies know that this will be the fate of anyone who attempts to threaten Israel&#x27;s existence,&quot; centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/3/1/latest-developments-after-us-israeli-strikes-kill-iran-s-khamenei-2124">READ: Latest developments after US, Israeli strikes kill Iran&#x27;s Khamenei</a></div><p>Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Education Minister Yoav Kisch both used the same excerpt from the Book of Esther, an ancient biblical story recounting how the Jews escaped extermination in ancient Persia, today&#x27;s Iran, to hail Khamenei&#x27;s death.</p><p>&quot;For the Jews it was a time of light, and gladness, and joy,&quot; they said on X.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Israel alive and roaring&#x27; -</strong></div><div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz8gWM8iRADsJr&amp;cid=ABzdx6IZnOhqlLig"></script></div><p>Religious Jews and other Israelis have likened Khamenei to the biblical character Amalek, the Israelites&#x27; arch-enemy.</p><p>&quot;Our air force pilots destroyed the Amalek of this generation... The people of Israel are alive and roaring,&quot; right-wing opposition politician Naftali Bennett wrote on Telegram.</p><p>Not all Israelis shared Bennett&#x27;s enthusiasm.</p><p>&quot;Khamenei... there will be another one instead of him. It hasn&#x27;t solved the problem,&quot; schoolteacher Dalit Avichay told AFP in Tel Aviv.</p><p>&quot;I think this war was not needed. It&#x27;s only for political reasons, only for Bibi (Netanyahu) to stay on the government,&quot; the 65-year-old added.</p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s not the only one that threatened Israel for the last 30, 40, 50 years... someone else will come,&quot; retiree Ami Bell, 60, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve had war since I was a small child. We are surrounded by countries that want to kill us. So I don&#x27;t think the situation will be different,&quot; he added.</p>

<p>Israelis on Sunday celebrated the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, their country's sworn enemy, who was killed the day before in a US-Israeli joint attack.</p>

Israelis on Sunday celebrated the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, their country's sworn enemy, who was killed the day before in a US-Israeli joint attack.

Jubilation as Israel celebrates Iran leader's death

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Jubilation as Israel celebrates Iran leader's death

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 02, 2026 01:37 AM PHT

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Israel

Iran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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United States

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Israel Katz

Benjamin Netanyahu

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