IDF chief: Army ready to protect Jewish people
In Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz says IDF has historic commitment to precede any threat to Jewish people wherever they are
The rally was also attended by Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky.
"More than 60 years have passed since the crematoriums ceased working, and the sounds of gunfire in the scenes of mass murder became silent," he said. "But even now the Jewish people face many challenges and different enemies who aim to destroy them. That is why the IDF has a historic commitment to precede any threat and try to curb any offence to Jews anywhere and gather all forces to triumph over any conflict. "
Gantz speaking in Kibbutz Tel Yizhak (Photo: Nimrod Glickman)
The IDF chief told the story of his mother, a Holocaust survivor. "My mother, who left the gates of Bergen- Belsen suffering from tuberculosis and weighing only 28 kilos, was brought to recovery camps in Sweden where she met representatives of the Youth Aliyah. As a 16-year-old orphan she was helped to deal with the horrors she endured and was guided towards making aliyah.
"Eventually, my mother boarded the Haim Arlosoroff immigrant ship. During this journey she met my father with whom she suffered many toils before they decided to settle in Israel.
"Today, as I reflect on the values I was taught as a child, the love of Israel that was so imbued within my parents - I believe that the unwavering strive for the land of our fathers and the tough road they both walked is at the heart of the education I received."
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