תא"ל וינטר והרב בן דהן
תא"ל וינטר והרב בן דהןצילום: שמואל אדלר

The Hanukkah candle-lighting Sunday night at the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem was attended by Border Policemen, Givati and Paratroop soldiers, Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, Chief of Staff of the Central Command Gen. Ofer Winter, singer David D'or, and city councilman Moshe Leon.

Deputy Defense Minister Ben-Dahan said: "Thanks to you, soldiers, Israel is sustained day by day and hour by hour. Thanks to you, the citizens of Israel know that they can live safely in their own country. The lone soldiers who came from overseas deserve double the credit since they serve not because they have to but for the opportunity to protect the people of Israel in the Land of Israel.”

Against the background of the scandalous UN resolution against Israel, Rabbi Ben-Dahan said: "From the eternal capital of Israel, we must say to the world, We did not conquer a foreign country, but returned to our country never to leave it again. Regardless of the other nations’ opinion, the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. this is our home.''

“Such is the eternal city,” said Jerusalem city councilman Moshe Leon. ''The UN can say what it wants, but from the heart of Jerusalem, in the Hurva synagogue that has been restored from its ruins, and with the lone soldiers who came to Israel from abroad to serve in the IDF, we are continuing our two-thousand-year-old tradition."

Leon stressed that "there is no greater sign of our eternality than these candles which show that we are here to stay for many more years. Happy Hanukkah!''