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“In the Holocaust, we were a beaten people crying out in agony. Today, we have a state stronger than ever, raising a roar of strength,” Netanyahu said.
By United with Israel Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a forceful address Monday evening at the state opening ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem, drawing a stark contrast between the vulnerability of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and Israel’s military strength today.
“During the Holocaust, we were ‘a people being hunted, like a wild animal,’” Netanyahu said, quoting poet Uri Zvi Greenberg. “But today, our people are striking back at our enemies.”
Addressing Holocaust survivors, whom he called “heroes of spirit,” Netanyahu said they have lived to witness not only the rebirth of Israel but its transformation into a regional power.
“In the Holocaust, we were a beaten people crying out in agony,” he said. “Today, we have a state stronger than ever, raising a roar of strength.”
Netanyahu framed Israel’s recent military operations, including campaigns against Iran and its regional proxies, as a direct continuation of the lessons of the Holocaust.
“As prime minister of Israel, I promised: ‘There will not be another Holocaust,’” he said. “This year, we fulfilled that promise in practice.”
He claimed Israel, alongside the United States, had dealt unprecedented blows to Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities.
“Together, we crushed the regime of evil in Iran,” Netanyahu said, accusing Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons and building “tens of thousands of ballistic missiles” aimed at destroying Israel.
“If we had not acted,” he warned, “the names Natanz, Fordo, Isfahan and Parchin could have been remembered in infamy, like Auschwitz and Treblinka.”
Netanyahu emphasized the contrast between past helplessness and present sovereignty. “We changed the course of history,” he said. “The State of Israel and the IDF represent the renewed control of our fate after centuries of weakness.”
Reflecting on the Holocaust, Netanyahu dismissed hypothetical questions about what might have been done differently.
“In history, there is no ‘what if,’” he said. “The catastrophe happened.”
Instead, he said Israel’s actions today are meant to ensure future generations will not ask the same question. “We are providing the answers now,” he said, pointing to ongoing operations against what he described as the Iranian-led “axis of evil.”
Netanyahu also highlighted close coordination with Washington, describing a “historic partnership” with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Who would have imagined 80 years ago that our pilots and American pilots would fly wing to wing to defend Israel and the Middle East?” he said.
In a broader message, Netanyahu argued that Israel’s fight extends beyond its borders.
“Together with the United States and other allies, we are defending not only ourselves but the entire world,” he said.
He closed with a message of resilience and national pride.
“As a people of lions, we will continue, with God’s help, to roar the roar of eternity,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Israel live.”
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