Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Expanding the circle of peace is a historic opportunity’
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with President Isaac Herzog, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, attended the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Yom Kippur War.
Benjamin Netanyahu affixes a wreath Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO on 26 September, 2023
Mt. Herzl is Israel’s national military cemetery.
Netanyahu used the opportunity to remind Israelis of how at one time they were all united, when they needed to deal with a common threat.
“Fifty years have passed but the flickering pictures are clearly before our eyes: The hasty mobilization, the heavy shelling, the human trail that was stretched on the line of outposts, our forces’ distress calls on the radio and within a few days – the radio calls by our forces as they stormed their way toward the Arab capitals,” he said. “But above all, the countless displays of devotion, fighting spirit, the brotherhood of soldiers fighting shoulder-to-shoulder, thanks to whom our homes were saved. This is the glue that bound unit to unit, person to person – our uncompromising commitment to our land and our state.”
The Prime Minister went on to say that it was “amazing” how the entire people of Israel mobilized, “it is the people that won the war.’ The people – secular and religious, right and left, Jews and non-Jews, they all proved that what unites us outweighs what divides us.”
“I am certain that today as well, should a campaign be forced on us, what we have in common will overcome that which divides us because at the moment of truth, we all know that we have one people, one country and one military; we all know that we have one past,” said Netanyahu. “I have no doubt that we also have one common future for us all.”
The Prime Minister also spoke about how fifty years ago the “majority of the Middle East was united in hatred toward Israel.” But today, there are many Arab nations at peace with Israel, and many more want peace, he explained, alluding to the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia for the normalization of ties with that country.
“Expanding the circle of peace is a historic opportunity and I am completely committed to it, while upholding our country’s vital interests, especially security,” he said.
“None of this would be possible without the spirit of sacrifice and heroism displayed by our soldiers in the Yom Kippur War,” declared Netanyahu. “But the turnaround they brought was achieved at the terrible price of thousands of fallen and wounded. The lesson that we learned from the Yom Kippur War is always before our eyes: We must not make light of the threats before us. We will thwart those who rise up to kill and destroy us.”
“We will always do everything necessary to defend our country and we will always remember our loved ones who have fallen in the campaign for our existence. May the memory of the fallen of the Yom Kippur War be in the heart of our people forever.”
The Yom Kippur War – known as the October War in Egypt – began on the afternoon of October 6, 1973. This was the 10th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei that year, the date of the Yom Kippur holiday – the Day of Atonement. It lasts for three weeks. Yom Kippur this year was observed on Monday.
