Bibi at Holocaust Memorial: The Strong Survive

The Fellowship  |  April 24, 2017

At sundown on Sunday night, Israel marked the beginning of its Holocaust Remembrance observance. The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon and Greer Fay Cashman report that PM Netanyahu spoke at the Yom HaShoah ceremony, lamenting the world’s apathy to ongoing atrocities while praising Jewish strength and resilience:

Netanyahu, speaking at Yad Vashem at the annual ceremony marking the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day, articulated what can fairly be called his overall strategic doctrine. “The simple truth is that in our world, the existence of the weak is in doubt. When facing murderous countries and organizations, their chances of survival are not great. The strong survive, the weak are erased,” he stated.

Netanyahu said that the Jewish people experienced this during the Holocaust, “and that lesson is in front of our eyes at all times. The lesson is that we must be able to defend ourselves, by ourselves, against all threats and all enemies. Those who plan to annihilate us are placing themselves in danger of annihilation.”

Netanyahu said this was neither a provocation nor an exaggeration, but rather “the only way to truly ensure our future.

And we have the ability to do this.”

Netanyahu, who has repeated this theme during Holocaust Remembrance Day addresses he has given over the many years that he has served as prime minister, said, “This lesson guides me every day – in the morning and at night. This is the supreme function, not the only one – but the supreme one – of every prime minister in Israel.”

The premier said that the generations who built and are continuing to build the Jewish state have brought about “the great change in the fate of the Jewish people. We replaced the weakness with strength; from a helpless people we turned into a strong nation; from a nation without defense we turned into a state with a defense force, one of the strongest in the world…”