By Elad Benari
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday addressed the annual Taglit Birthright Israel Mega Event in Jerusalem.
“You all come from great countries,” Netanyahu told the participants. “But you all come from here. That’s your birthright. Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Sara, Rachel, Leah and Rebecca – the original ones were all here. We all started here, and we came back here. This is our birthright, and this is your birthright.”
He reminded how the Jews forged their identity in the land of Israel and were then exiled for thousands of years, but did something no other nation has ever done and came back to their homeland.
“Now we’ve built a great state,” Netanyahu said. “It has a great past and you can go around and you’ll see all the sites of our wondrous Biblical history and our post-Biblical history, but you’ll see something else. You’ll see the future. This is a country that seizes the future. This is a country that works. People work, they invent things that change lives.”
He pointed out some of the Israeli achievements, including life-saving medicine and computer chips in cellular phones that were invented in Israel.
“I want you to enjoy yourselves, go back to your homeland and tell the truth about Israel,” Netanyahu said. “Tell them about a country where you can be free, free to work, free to criticize the government. A country in which a woman is the Supreme Court Chief Justice, a woman is a general in the military, and a country in which a woman can sit anywhere she wants to.”
He added, “We live in a tough neighborhood and we have to defend ourselves, and we have the bravest soldiers in the world to do that. But the most important battle is the battle for the truth. And all of you can become an ambassador for Israel. And whether you come here or whether you stay where you are, be proud of your birthright.”
Marc Israel Sellem flash90
Marc Israel Sellem flash90
Marc Israel Sellem flash90
