Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant participated this afternoon in an officer's course graduation ceremony.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the ceremony that the goals of the war are the elimination of the evil of the Hamas regime, the return of the hostages. and the removal of any future threat from Gaza to the State of Israel.
Netanyahu also said at the ceremony, "We will operate in Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas, whoever tells us not to operate there is asking us to lose the war - it will not happen."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, "We are achieving the goals of the war - the dissolution of Hamas as a military and governmental body and the return of all the hostages. The results of this just and important war will mark a new chapter in the history of the State of Israel, and they will be the starting points for processes that will last for many years, in everything related to the strategic position of the State of Israel in the Middle East - the treatment we will receive from our friends, and the deterrence we will create against our enemy."
"This is a war for our home, this is a war for our values as a people - this is a war for our right to exist as a Jewish and democratic society, in the heart of a hostile area," Gallant said.