Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today (Monday) at the state memorial ceremony on Mount Herzl, in memory of the fallen IDF and security forces who fell in the 'War of Rebirth' - and to all those who have fallen since October 7.
"My many respects, and first of all my brothers and sisters to the bereaved family – the families of those who fell in the war.".
Fallen are fallen: giants of action and giants of spirit. Together with the entire nation, my wife Sarah and I bow our heads in memory of our sons and daughters, defenders of the homeland, crowned with heroism. We embrace each and every family in their pain.
I know that there is no real balm for loss and grief. What was will not be again. What is gone will not return. As Haim Habshus, the father of the armored fighter, the late Neve Habshus, recently said.
Chaim said: "We mourn not only for what was – but also for what will be no more." In the same breath, he added: "Wherever we go – the fallen will always be part of the path. We will continue to love the land, we will continue to travel the land, we will continue to protect the land." Indeed so.
We will guard the house from the predators that surround us. And we will do it together, Nablus to Nablus: Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouins, Circassians, and the sons and daughters of other groups. Yesterday I heard one of the stories of this mutual guarantee. In a firefight in the Gaza Strip, one of the soldiers was hit in the neck and the bullet went through his jaw, and his Druze combatant friend spent long hours plugging the hole and saving his friend's life until medical help arrived. For hours he stood in the breach.
Our legacy of heroism is amazing. Our legacy of the fallen is an eternal flame that will light our path for generations to come.
My esteemed citizens of Israel, even three years after the outbreak of the war – when the State of Israel is stronger than ever before, the terrible hours of the Simchat Torah offensive are still etched in our minds. The massacre of October 7 in the Gaza Envelope exposed for all to see the monstrous evil of our enemies. Babies and children, adults and the elderly, were targets for extermination, abuse, and kidnapping.
We were not like our enemies - and we will never be like them.
The fate of every person touches the very core of our souls, and therefore we have made unremitting efforts until we have returned all of our captives, down to the last one.
At the same time, we fought back against our attackers with a fierce war on seven fronts.
We did this with the understanding that this satanic massacre is only the opening shot in the Iranian axis' plan to destroy the State of Israel.
The evil camp tried to strangle us with a triple ring of fire: terrorist branches all around us, designed to drain our blood. Thousands of deadly missiles aimed at our territory and aimed at our cities. And above all, nuclear bombs designed to destroy our country and wipe it off the face of the earth. This was Iran's triple plan.
But with joint forces we crushed it step by step – with joint forces, with our fallen heroes, we acted with initiative, with momentum, with offensives. Our soldiers and commanders, the lion-like infidels, cut off the arms of terror. We pushed our enemies back many kilometers from our territory. We created deterrent buffer zones on their territory in the Gaza Strip, in Lebanon, in Syria.
Our soldiers are 'on the heights' – and what a height: the crown of Mount Hermon, the Beaufort Peak, and the Ali Taher Range – which we have cleared of the death-infrastructures in the bowels of the earth. We have struck Iran's own ballistic missile stockpiles, and we have severely damaged its nuclear program – its scientists, its facilities, its infrastructure.
When we sat together to approve the final plans before Operation 'Am Klavya', I said: We cannot pass on the handling of this existential threat to future generations, because there will be no future generations.
Thanks to the heroism of our fighters, we turned the tables. We removed from ourselves a clear and immediate danger of the destruction of millions of our citizens. Of the destruction of the state.
But there are more tasks ahead of us, and we intend to complete them. There will be no Hamas rule in Gaza. Everyone who was involved in the attack against us, everyone who held our hostages, is living on borrowed time. We will get to him as we got to the others.
Every day we come to terms with these vile murderers. In Lebanon – we will continue to strike Hezbollah and create a chance for peace with a country whose majority of its people want peace with us. And as for Iran – we will not allow the regime of terror to threaten our existence. The tyrannical regime is as weak as it has been since its inception. It is fighting for its life, and it will eventually pass away.
Dear families, in the battles of Simchat Torah, and afterwards, our sons and daughters in the IDF and the security forces stopped with their bodies those who sought our lives.
Our warriors charged forward: on land, in the air, at sea. Above ground and below ground. Close to our borders, and far from our borders. Their spirit inspires awe.
World leaders tell me: 'You rose from the pit of October 7th. You struck the Islamic fanatics in the shin. You gave humanity hope that the forces of darkness will be defeated. I wish such special young people would grow up here too.'.
But there are also other leaders. To them - who constantly slander us, who want to boycott us - I say to them: Israel is engaged in a war of revival that is more necessary than it is, and more just than it is. This is the truth. And you should be ashamed of your lies. The truth is that we defend you too. And the truth is that the morality of our soldiers is unparalleled. The expectation from our fighters - 'Be good fighters, be good people' - this expectation comes first and foremost from within us.
This was the path of the hero of Israel, the commander of the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division, the late Lieutenant Colonel Assaf Hammi. Assaf sought contact with the damned terrorists on October 7. He did so with extraordinary courage.
Assaf Hammi fell in battle, was kidnapped in Gaza, and after we returned him to Israel – he was buried in the Israel Cemetery. I spoke and met with Assaf's parents – Ilan and Clara – and his wife Sapir. I heard from them with excitement about the message that commemorates Assaf – 'Be good, be Hammi.'.
Major (retd.) Harel Birnstock, the late, who fell two months ago in battle in South Lebanon, also adhered to a combination of courage and goodness. Harel, a dedicated commander in the "Spearhead" formation, drew inspiration from what is written in the Book of Samuel 1: "And the people were very good to us... They were a wall against us both night and day.".
My dear friends, dear families, in Israel we know who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for. Against those who want to annihilate us and for the sake of ensuring our future. Ensuring the eternity of Israel. Understanding this calling will continue to accompany us in the face of the challenges of the future. There are threats – and we will act against them. There will be tests – and with God’s help we will meet them. We are creating opportunities to expand the circle of reconciliation and peace in our region – we will succeed in that too.
We will always remember: Our strength rests on the best of our sons and daughters, who gave their lives for us. Our strength rests on the best of our people who act with courage and determination to ensure the eternity of Israel. I wish a complete recovery to the wounded in the war, both physically and mentally. When I see the wounded in the rehabilitation wards – and in other places – I am moved by their strength of spirit.
Here is one notable example: Neve Rosenfeld, a fighter in the Oketz unit, was wounded in Gaza. Neve's leg was amputated, but he didn't give up. He insisted on rehabilitating himself, returning to life, and also proposing marriage to his girlfriend Anwa, who was by his side the whole time. Neve knelt before her – an iron knee, for a fighter with an iron will.
To Noah and Anwa, to the wounded, to the warriors, therefore – the families of the fallen and the fallen – and to all citizens of Israel, I pledge not to waver from the goal: to be strong, to be united, to be victorious!
"May the memory of our fallen - the heroes of the War of Rebirth - be blessed forever.".
