Against the background of the horrific attack by Hamas against the people of Israel, President Herzog today (Thursday), met in Tel Aviv with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who ss visiting Israel.
The President said at the beginning of the meeting: “Welcome, Mr. Secretary, you are a great, great friend - personally and for our nation. I want to express our deep gratitude to President Biden for his immense friendship and moral clarity, for the United States Congress from all sides of the aisle, and the American nation, for being with us."
"Your visit here is another proof and testimony to how close you are and how you care for us in our time of need, in one of the darkest hours we've endured since the establishment of the State of Israel. I know you personally, and I know that your stepfather Samuel Pisar was a Holocaust survivor originally from Bialystok, and wrote a book which impacted my life tremendously - I know that the vision of Jews being carried away, all the young babies carried to Hell, is something that is mind boggling and speaks to the most deep emotions that any person has. But one thing is clear, because in that one day, it's the highest number of Jews ever killed since the Holocaust. I think we must be clear that this is not only unacceptable, which the President said, but the sense of security and defence that the people of Israel deserve is something which is of the highest priority so that these pictures will never occur.
"So we thank you deeply for your friendship, and your visit. And I'm hopeful that it will also add another brick in our fight for security for all our people - so that one day we can project the vision of peace after overcoming prevailing and winning.
"One last comment is that I would like to congratulate the incoming Israeli Government, the Emergency Government. I heard your comments. We welcome it, I think it's a very important step. It's a moral call of duty for our nation. And I'm thankful for that.”
The Secretary of State of the United States said to the President: “Thank you Mr. President. We’ve had the opportunity to speak a couple of times since one of the darkest moments in the recent history of humanity, on Saturday, and I am here quite simply with one message and that is the United States stands with Israel, today, tomorrow, every day."
"I think it’s almost impossible for any of us to comprehend on a human level what Israel has experienced at the hands of Hamas these last few days. But we are determined to be with you as you defend your people and defend the values that join us together. What we have seen I think will be very hard to erase from our minds, and certainly our hearts. But I sense a fierce sense of determination in Israel to prevail and prevail Israel will, and the United States is here as your partner to help ensure that you do.
"There really are two paths before the countries of this region and in many ways, countries in this world. But here in the Middle East there is the path of integration, cooperation, normalisation, and equal measures of justice, opportunity dignity for all peoples including the Palestinians, or there is the path that Hamas has shown to the world these last few days: terror, destruction, nihilism, a path that leads to nowhere for anyone except to the darkest places in our souls. So the choice is clear, we’re together and we will walk down that righteous path together, that’s what morally our people want us to do.”