Excerpts from Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Israel's Call 75 years ago, we were brought here to die. We had neither a country nor an army. Seven nations waged war against us. We were only 65,000. No one was there to save us. We were continually attacked.

 

Excerpts from Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Israel's Call

75 years ago, we were brought here to die. We had neither a country nor an army. Seven nations waged war against us. We were only 65,000. No one was there to save us. We were continually attacked.

Countries like Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and others showed no mercy toward us. Everyone wanted to kill us, but we survived.

The United Nations gave us land, land that was 65% desert. We watered it with our blood. We accepted it as our nation because, for us, it was everything.

We have forgotten nothing. We survived Pharaoh. We survived Greece. We survived Rome. We survived Spain. We survived Hitler. We survived the Arab nations. We survived Saddam. We survived Gaddafi.

We will survive Hamas, we will survive Hezbollah, and we will survive Iran.

Our Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times, besieged 23 times, destroyed 39 times, ruined three times, and captured 44 times, but we have never forgotten our Jerusalem. It is in our hearts, it is in our minds, and as long as we exist, Jerusalem will remain in our soul.

The world should remember that those who wanted to destroy us are no longer here. Egypt, Lebanon, Babylon, Greece, Alexander, Rome—all are gone.

Yet we still survive.

They (the Islamists) want to destroy us. They have taken over our customs. They have taken over our teachings. They have taken over our traditions. They have taken over our prophets. Over time, Abraham became Ibrahim, Solomon became Suleiman, David became Daud, Moses became Musa...

And then one day... they said your prophet (Muhammad) has arrived. We did not accept this. How could we? His time had not yet come. They said, "Accept him! Embrace him!" We did not accept. Then we were killed. Our cities were captured, our city of Yathrib was turned into Medina. We were massacred and exiled. Our people were expelled, persecuted, and scattered across the world. Despite all this, we remained resilient, we held on to our identity, our faith, and our heritage.

They tried to erase us, to assimilate us, to destroy our culture, our beliefs, and our history. But we did not forget who we are, and we did not lose sight of our homeland. We held on to the hope of returning to Jerusalem, to our land, to our people.

We built our nation with our hands, with our sacrifices, and with our willpower. We transformed the desert into flourishing fields, we established a thriving democracy, we built one of the most advanced nations in the world. We made our dreams a reality, against all odds.

Today, we stand strong, united, and determined to defend our people, our land, and our future. Our enemies may continue their attempts to destroy us, but they will fail, just as they have failed before. We will not be intimidated by terror, we will not be swayed by threats, and we will not surrender to fear.

Israel is here to stay. We will continue to protect our citizens, our borders, and our freedom. And we will continue to pursue peace, but never at the cost of our security or our survival.

The world must understand that the Jewish people are not going anywhere. We have survived the greatest challenges in history, and we will continue to thrive. Jerusalem will remain the eternal capital of Israel, and we will ensure that it remains a place of peace and coexistence for all.

*We are a people of hope, of strength, of resilience. And we will continue to rise, as we have done for thousands of years. We will survive, and we will prevail, because this is our destiny, and this is our home.*