Addressing the audience, President Rinkēvičs said:
"We are gathered here to express our strong support and solidarity with the people of Israel, the State of Israel and the people whose loved ones have been killed as a result of this absolutely brutal attack.
Evil knows no borders. If evil is not stopped, it attacks. And that is what has happened in Israel today, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and started murdering innocent civilians. The increasingly brutal and horrific facts of the crimes we see on social media and in the press confirm one thing: we must all fight together – Latvia and Israel – against evil in all its forms.
We see what is happening in our very close neighbour country, Ukraine. We see what is happening in Israel right now. And we must understand one thing – if we do not unite and fight, this evil will continue to attack.
We are all united in the belief that Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has the right to respond and to fight against this evil. But we have the right and the duty to support the people and the State of Israel in this struggle. And that is what our country will do."
