Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, January 2, 2022. Emil Salman/Pool via REUTERS

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sent a special video message to the people of Iran on Sunday to mark the occasion of the Persian holiday of Nowruz—their New Year.

“Nowruz literally means ‘new day,’” the prime minister said, “and that is my greatest wish for you, the Iranian people: That you will see a new day—a day of freedom from the cruel Iranian regime. A new day where you can drink clean water, speak freely and live your lives with dignity.”

Bennett said in his video message, which was shared on the social networks, that he believes Israel and the Iranian people have a lot in common, and spoke about the people’s ancient ties.

“It was King Cyrus who allowed the Jews to come back to the land of Israel, and we owe gratitude,” he said.

He went on to say that he understands that the Iranian regime does not represent the people, and offered words of strength to help them break free “from the shackles of oppression of the Iranian regime, and that your love of life shall prevail over tyranny and terror.”