Locals cheered Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday when the Israeli prime minister visited a town subjected to a deadly Iranian missile strike.

Netanyahu visited Bat Yam, located on the Mediterranean Sea coast just south of Tel Aviv, where an Iranian missile strike killed six civilians and injured dozens with three still missing, 7 Israel National News reported.

"They are cheering and saying: 'Bibi King of Israel,'" Israeli Hananya Naftali posted on X. "Netanyahu is extremely popular among Israelis right now, I believe that left and right appreciate the leadership he is showing right now."

The prime minister toured the site of the strike — an apartment building — and received a briefing from the teams working amid the rubble.

"We are here because we are in an existential battle, one that every citizen of Israel now understands. Think about what would happen if Iran had nuclear weapons to drop on Israeli cities," Netanyahu said.

"Think about what would happen if Iran had 20,000 such missiles. Not one — 20,000. This is an existential threat to Israel. That is why we have launched a war of rescue against a dual annihilation threat, and we are doing so with strength."

He vowed that Iran "will pay a very heavy price for the murder of civilians, women, and children — a deliberate act."

"We will achieve our objective and deal them a powerful blow. They will feel the weight of our response," Netanyahu said. "Until then, and during this war, I ask you, citizens of Israel, to follow the Home Front Command's instructions. It will save your lives."

Netanyahu's chief political rivals — Benny Gantz, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Lapid — have expressed support for attacking Iran, BBC reported.

In a video statement Sunday, Netanyahu said Iran's attacks on Israel were unifying Jews and Arabs.

"The missile does not distinguish — it hits both Jews and Arabs," he said, The Times of Israel reported. "They are coming to destroy all of us. We are brothers. We are in this battle together. The missile doesn't distinguish but neither do the first responders, the Home Front Command officials, security forces who come to help us — they don't distinguish.

"Today in Bat Yam, I spoke to one of them, a member of a minority. He came to rescue Jews. He doesn't differentiate. We will not differentiate. This is all of our fight. We are all standing together, Jews, Arabs, all as one."

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