Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke at a ship commanders' course ceremony at the Israel Navy Instruction Base in Haifa and directed some of his words to the families of the two Israeli soldiers who were returned to Israel Wednesday.
"The Goldwasser and Regev families," he said, "for you a tortuous journey of uncertainty ended today. Two years of fear and stress, of nightmares and sleepless nights, and of days in which you got up each morning and collected all of your internal powers to fight for bringing your kids home."
"An entire nation was with you the entire time, feeling your pain, praying your prayers, amazed by your nobleness. Today this journey ended, not as you hoped, not as we all had hoped."