Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told those in attendance at the Independence Day ceremony in honor of outstanding soldiers at the President's Residence on Thursday, "'Israeliness' in my eyes is the sense of togetherness that you see on this day. We saw it both when we brought Zechariah Baumel back for burial in Israel, and the phenomenon that has always caught my eye - when a plane lands at Ben-Gurion Airport, everyone claps. There is no such thing [elsewhere] in the world."
Netanyahu also said, "The best Hebrew word in my eyes is 'kippa' - it has a double meaning, Iron Dome [Kippat Barzel in Hebrew -ed.] and defense, combined with faith."