(VIDEO AND PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Prime Minister/Defense Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday visited a elite commando unit during a training operation accompanied by outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott and other senior officers.

Mr. Netanyahu was briefed on the unit and the training event by Eizenkott and other senior officers present. Mr. Netanyahu had opportunity to speak with some of the troops at some point, telling them, “The greatest correction to anti-Semitism is the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces. Once we were a leaf blown in the wind and could have massacred us, today we have the power of response. On the eve of Chanukah, the spirit of the Maccabees is here – you are the Maccabees. We overcome our enemies with extraordinary strength and in an extraordinary spirit that I see here, I see in the IDF and in all our fighters. I am proud of you and believe in you and the people of Israel believe in you. Keep up the success, keep the state, take care of yourself, and guard one another.”

The exercise is taking place in a number of venues in Israel during a ten-day period.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)