Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau
16 July 2008
Today is a difficult day for all of us. It is a difficult day for the families of Eldad and Udi, who returned home today, families which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied in every place in the world – we hoped, for them and for us, we got angry and we persuaded.
Today, the day on which we wanted to rejoice with the families, has turned into a day of pain.
But the Israeli people – the people that feels the lack of every soldier who doesn't come back to it – this people, I hope, feels more complete, more at peace because the doubt has been removed; more at peace with the value system that defines us as a society; more at peace knowing that we are different from other peoples.
This knowledge is the strength of Israeli society and it is not dependent on what the other side says; it depends on us alone.
It doesn't depend on how they are celebrating over there the return of a man whom they call a "hero" because he smashed the skull of a little girl. To me, whatever is said or thought by people whose heroes are skull smashers, who hunt women and children in order to kill them, has no relevance. What is important is our values.
In our eyes, a hero is someone who fights to protect civilians, who fights for existence. Our heroes go to battle equipped, in addition to their weapons, with the willingness to sacrifice, in the reassuring knowledge that they are protecting human beings who share their values and who are also prepared to pay a price in order to realize them.
Today, let there be no mistake – just as Israel is prepared to pay a price for its values, Israel will demand a price, and a high price at that, from its enemies, whenever necessary, in order to protect itself.
מח' מידע ואינטרנט – אגף תקשורת
17.07.2008
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