Netanyahu calls for victory over Hamas in pre-recorded video message for Israel's 76th Independence Day

Tying the current war in Gaza to Israel’s War of Independence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a call for full victory over Hamas in a pre-recorded video message broadcast during the official state ceremony marking the country’s 76th Independence Day.

“Seventy-six years ago, in the War of Independence, we stood alone. Few against many. Five Arab armies invaded our territory to eliminate the country that had just been born. We were poor in weapons, almost without means. But we had one secret weapon: the spirit of the ages, the life force of an ancient people that refuses to die,” he states.

“Thanks to this spirit, we defeated our enemies and secured our existence. Today we are infinitely stronger. But the desire to destroy us has not gone away; it is still here. We saw it this year on October 7. This is no ordinary Independence Day. The war is still going on. It was imposed on us on a black day of a terrible massacre.”

Noting that many Israelis are still held hostage in Gaza and that thousands of residents of the north and south are still unable to return home, Netanyahu claims that, despite everything that has happened, “many” of the families of the fallen have told him that “our heroes did not fall in vain” and called on him to “continue to the end, continue until the Hamas monsters are eliminated.”

“Although this is not a normal Independence Day, it is a special opportunity to understand the meaning of our independence. The independence to be a free people in our country. The independence to protect ourselves on our own. The independence to realize the decree of the generations: never again,” he adds.