Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Thursday evening attended a Purim megillah reading at the National College for Police Officers in Beit Shemesh.
Alongside the Netanyahus were Deputy National Security Minister Haim Katz (Likud), Police Commissioner Dani Levi, Police Chief Rabbi Rami Berachyahu, senior commanders, and Israel Police officers.
"To read this megillah is an experience in itself every time, but this time it is a special experience," he said. "Because the Scroll of Esther is the book of the Jewish People's redemption from enemies which rise up against us to eliminate us - in every generation."
"In Persia, 2,500 ears ago, an enemy rose up against us, wanting to destroy, eliminate, and wipe the Jewish People off the face of the earth. Now, 2,500 years later, an enemy of the Jewish people has arisen in that same land. And he also wants to destroy and eliminate the Jewish People from the face of the earth. And then heroes such as yourselves - the heroes of our nation - stood up for us. And with planning, bravery, and courage you have turned the tables upside down, and we are breaking the Iranian axis. That is what is happening in these days.
"If history repeats itself, at least the nation is the same nation. This is the new Purim miracle. This miracle is in your merit: In the merit of our heroic soldiers, our brave fighters, policemen and policewomen, who stopped the tragedy with endless bravery and fought back powerfully. We have merited a country, but we merited you. I trust you and am sure that each and every one of you will do what is asked of you in making a new Purim miracle in our days. Happy Purim to you all."