Netanyahu: Christians Defend Israel, Not Just Protected by It

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attended a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a memorial honoring fallen soldiers from the Arabic-speaking Christian community. The event took place at Lavi Forest near the Golani Junction, where Netanyahu used the occasion to launch a sharp attack on international criticism of Israel.

In his speech, the prime minister accused the world of spreading lies about how Israel treats its minorities, presenting the ceremony itself as proof of the country's true character.

"We are under a global assault on the State of Israel and on the Israel Defense Forces," Netanyahu declared. He said this campaign portrays Israel and IDF soldiers as war criminals, "which is the greatest absurdity that could be said about the most moral army in the world."

Beyond accusations against the military, Netanyahu continued, Israel is also depicted as a state that persecutes minorities. He contrasted Israel's treatment of its minority communities with what occurs in other countries throughout the region.

"In the heart of this enormous space, where there is no measure of compassion, no measure of acceptance. There is so much hostility, so much extremism, so much persecution of the other and elimination of the other. The State of Israel is like an island, an island of progress, an island of tolerance, an island of security," he said.

The prime minister also referenced Israel's actions on behalf of the Druze in Sweida: "I say this about all communities, but just recently we fought in Sweida to save our Druze brothers from complete slaughter, and we are protecting them even today."

Netanyahu then focused specifically on the Christian community in Israel. "This is the only place, the State of Israel, where the Christian community flourishes and grows. The only one in the Middle East. Everywhere else they are persecuted, or emigrate, or are slaughtered. Only here do they find the place, the home shared by all of us," he said.

The prime minister concluded with a warning about the danger of repeated false accusations: "The world is swept up in the big lie. And if you repeat the big lie again and again and again, this lie becomes truth."

He argued that the ceremony itself represents Israel's answer to these claims: "And so we came today to shatter this lie, and we are shattering it through this very event, through the very fact that we not only protect the Christians, I'm speaking specifically about the flagship lie, the Christians are defending us! All together."