More Quotes
“Israel is a beacon of democracy in a pained region. In the Middle East today, we see women, men and children on the front lines in a fight for their basic rights, giving their lives for the sake of freedom. It is my hope and prayer that in our time, those who are fighting against fundamentalism will also taste liberty and freedom.” (Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at a Yom Haatzmaut reception for members of the foreign diplomatic corps, 24/04/2015)
“We, leaders of the IDF and its soldiers, stand today and salute our comrades, our commanders and our subordinates who fell while completing their missions. The fallen are among the best of the country’s sons and daughters.”
“We, who are left missing [them], carry their memory and feel the pain of the emptiness they left behind. The memorial monuments across the country are a silent testament to the battles and challenges Israel has known, a testament to the stories of heroism and victory and our promise to remember the fallen. It is our duty to commemorate their life stories and the good examples of their deeds.” (An order published by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot ahead of Israeli Remembrance Day, 21/04/2015)
“On Remembrance Day, the Israeli nation, as one big family, bows its head and unites with the memories of all of the fallen of Israel’s wars, as a moral obligation to those who in their death commanded us to live, so that we may be worthy of them.” (Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, 19/04/2015)
“Israel views with utmost gravity the supply of S-300 missiles from Russia to Iran, especially at a time when Iran is stepping up its aggression in the region and around the borders of the State of Israel.
Israel also views with utmost gravity the fact that there is no reference to this aggression in the agreement being made between the major powers and Iran. There is no stipulation that this aggression be halted, whether at the start of the agreement or as a condition for the lifting of sanctions. Yesterday we saw the military parade in Tehran and Iran’s exhibition of weapons to the world.
Every year the missiles are bigger and enhanced – in accuracy, strength and deadliness; however, one thing does not change. What does not change is the inscription ‘Death to Israel’ on the missiles.
Against the threats that I have described, Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend the security of the state and its citizens.” (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu via Facebook, 19/04/2015)
“Across the years, we remember with sorrow all those who died, and extol the memory of the fighters, the rebels of the ghettos and the partisans. And we remember all of those who survived the horrors of the Nazis, immigrated to Israel and helped their brothers in arms establish our country – some of whom fell in the war for Israel’s defense.”
!From the ashes and despair we arose and established the army of our people – the Israel Defense Forces. For 67 years, the IDF has been the steadfast defender of Israel – a country to which Jews from all over the world have aspired.” (IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot‘s remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day. They can be read in full here, 16/04/2015)
“We will not belittle any threats. Nor belittle shameful statements calling for the extinction of the Jewish people. Yet, while we are prepared, we are not scared …The horrors of the past and the threats of the present will not dictate our lives, nor shape the lives of our children. They will not dim our hopes for a future of creativity and prosperity.”
“There are those who mistakenly think that the State of Israel is some form of compensation for the Holocaust. There is no greater mistake. The State of Israel is not a compensation for the Holocaust. The State of Israel was established, in its own right, out of a love and longing for an ancient homeland, by virtue of a dream that came true, a dream that became a reality. Not out of the fear of extinction or out of hatred of the other.”
“Seventy years after the liberation of the death camps, we stand before you and we swear an oath. All of us, each and every one of us, has a number tattooed on their arm, yet, at the same time and in the same breath, we remember: we came from Auschwitz, not because of Auschwitz.” (Israeli President Reuven Rivlin speaking at the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem, 15/04/2015)