Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning visited the haredi Hashmonaim Brigade and attended a "siyum" on a tractate of Talmud.
Upon his arrival, Netanyahu was welcomed by the soldiers and commanders with thunderous applause and the Hebrew song, “For length of days and years of life will be added to him."
Netanyahu was accompanied on the visit by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Boaz Bismuth. The two participated in a siyum on Tractate Kiddushin held by the brigade.
The Prime Minister spoke with the soldiers and told them that he hopes that in the future, a haredi Chief of Staff will emerge from the ranks of the brigade.
"I intend to be at his appointment ceremony - even if I am not the one placing the ranks on him," Netanyahu said.
In his remarks, Netanyahu said, "I respect the world of Torah because generations of my ancestors and your ancestors preserved Israel's heritage through Torah study. But those who do not study Torah must enlist. And when they enlist, they must be granted the right to enter as haredi and leave as haredi."
"We are going to connect these two worlds," he promised. "That is what you are doing. You are continuing the legacy of the Hasmoneans. This only adds strength, the fact that you can study Torah and serve, maintain a religious haredi lifestyle and serve, hold the sword of David and serve, and also study. This is the very thing that strengthens us more than anything else."
"I want to commend you for what you are doing. I am very moved because I was here before you went to the officer training course, and today I am meeting graduates - an amazing thing. You are the pioneers and others are following in your footsteps. I see it. I see the great increase in enlistment and in this desire to defend the State of Israel.
"We are in the midst of a war, still on seven fronts. Of course, we have monumental achievements. We are not finished yet, but these achievements come first and foremost from faith, from the spirit, and also from the power, the tools, the technology, and the weapons, but in the end, or rather at the very beginning, this comes from the Hasmonean spirit. You are Hasmoneans!"
Bismuth added, "I am very moved to be here. We are in a place where a real revolution is taking place; we are witnessing something amazing and moving. Our two greatest values are the Torah that brought us here and the IDF that protects us. On this base, these two things connect, Torah with uniforms. I want to thank you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, this is happening on your watch. This revolution cannot be stopped."