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Friday, June 19, 2015, marks the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent his greeting to the Muslim community.

“To Israel’s Muslim citizens, I am pleased to convey my greetings on the start of Ramadan – Ramadan kareem.

I wish you all the good in the world. This year as well we know that the world is not all good. The Islamic world is marking the month of Ramadan even as the Middle East burns in the wake of civil wars and religious wars between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

Our Muslim citizens, Israel will continue to be an island of security and stability in the stormy sea around us, in which extremist Islamic elements murder each other and members of other faiths.

Israel is the only state in the region that respects freedom of religion and freedom of worship for believers of all faiths, and you know this better than anyone. You are an inseparable part of Israeli society.

Kol a’am wa antom bekhair – I wish you goodness every year.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)