Netanyahu Defends Israel Amid Global Criticism at Christian Fallen Memorial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu attended a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a monument honoring Christian Arab-speaking soldiers who fell in service. The event took place on Wednesday in the "Lavi" Forest near the Golani Junction.

Speaking against the backdrop of controversy surrounding the film "Nezar," Netanyahu addressed what he called a "global attack" on Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He stated that Israel and its soldiers are being falsely portrayed not only as committing war crimes, which he described as absurd given the IDF's morality, but also as persecuting minorities.

"In this vast space, which lacks compassion, lacks acceptance, has so much hostility, extremism, and persecution of the other, the State of Israel is an island of progress, tolerance, and security," Netanyahu declared. He emphasized that this applies to all communities, recalling Israel's intervention to save Druze citizens from a massacre in Sweida.

Addressing the Christian community specifically, Netanyahu asserted that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians "flourish and grow." He contrasted this with other regions where Christians are persecuted, forced to emigrate, or massacred. "You know this, but the world is swept up in the big lie," he said, adding that repeating a lie makes it seem true.

"Therefore, we have come today to shatter this lie, and we are shattering it with this ceremony, with the very fact that we not only protect Christians, but I am specifically talking about the current lie, Christians protect us! All together," Netanyahu concluded.