Chanuka Lighting
Netanyahu Praises IDF Soldiers: "You Are Modern Maccabees" | WATCH
PM Netanyahu and his wife Sarah joined US Ambassador Huckabee and other distinguished guests for Chanuka candle lighting with IDF soldiers at the Kotel. Netanyahu praised the soldiers, comparing them to the Maccabees who freed Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara marked the second night of Hanukkah on Monday evening at the Western Wall, joining IDF soldiers, senior religious figures, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, in a ceremony heavy with symbolism amid Israel’s ongoing war.
The event was attended by Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and Western Wall Heritage Foundation Director Mordechai “Soli” Eliav. In the softly lit plaza, the Netanyahus placed a note between the ancient stones praying “for the success of the IDF soldiers and the security forces.” Sara Netanyahu also offered a personal prayer for the return of fallen hostage Ran Gvili, whose body remains held by Hamas in Gaza.
Addressing the assembled soldiers, Netanyahu framed the moment in explicitly historical terms, calling them “the Maccabees of our time.” He said he saw in them the same determination and courage that defined the Jewish revolt commemorated by Hanukkah, arguing that Israel is once again fighting a war of survival against forces seeking to erase Jewish life and sovereignty.
Netanyahu also referenced U.S. President Donald Trump, recalling a conversation in which Trump asked how Israel continues to prevail despite being small and outnumbered. Netanyahu said the answer lies in Jewish heritage, faith, and a refusal to allow anyone to “sever the life-thread” of the Jewish people.
The ceremony underscored a broader message repeated throughout Chanuka this year: light as resilience, and the insistence that the war effort remains unfinished until every hostage, living and fallen, is brought home.