President Reuven Rivlin at the ceremony
President Reuven Rivlin at the ceremonyKobi Gidon

At a ceremony marking the birthday of Israel founder Zeev Jabotinsky, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke of the power and vitality of Jabotinsky's realized dream:

"Eight decades after the singularly miraculous idea was formed - the country has changes. The State of Israel was established, founded, and has achieved great things. Today, we are carrying several flags at once...the flag of military might, the flag of economic might, the flag of political might, and the flag of spiritual and moral strength.

He emphasized that "Jabotinsky prepared us with the Iron Wall principle...the Iron Wall is the State of Israel, which serves as a guardian of the free world against radical Islam."

President Reuven Rivlin also spoke at the ceremony, and laid a wreath at the memorial: "We 'Beitar men' used to not speak over the grave of our teacher Jabotinsky, and rather to let his writings speak for themselves," the president began.

He continued with a description of the ideal 'Beitar man': "a man with his eyes open, a clear mind, and a large heart. A man who knows how to demonstrate the utmost respect to the noble aspirations of his peers."

He went on to discuss the roots of Jabotinsky's ideas in the Torah, and concluded with a quote: "From now, it is clear to all of us that many more generations of young people will need to devote themselves to the building and strengthening of the State of Israel. And I hope, that the Beitar movement, together with all the other youth movements, will continue and put the challenge of building up the State of Israel as the most important goal of our generation.

"May Zeev Jabotinsky's memory be blessed, and remain in our hearts forever."