Former Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Chabad World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway on Sunday night, as the annual Kinus Hashluchim concluded.

“I come here to Brooklyn, to 770, for the first time since the difficult war forced upon us,” Gallant said. “And I want to say to you that this war brought us to unprecedented achievements in the zechus of two things – the zechus of the IDF soldiers and the zechus of the neis of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”

“This is not something to be taken for granted. We began this war on Simchas Torah, one of the hardest days that Am Yisrael endured since the Holocaust. Our enemies thought they would defeat us. We saw this in the documents we found on their computers in Gaza.

“On October 7, Hamas waged war on us and the next day, Hezbollah joined in. And what happened? I ended my position 13 months later and I look at the situation – the Hamas terror organization had been destroyed, all their leaders were gone – Sinwar, Haniyeh, and Dief were eliminated.

“Also, in the north, remember the boasts of Nasrallah and all the others, the threats and shouts. When we decided, we fell on them hard and struck them hard. Nasrallah is no more, Sinwar is no more, and none of the others.”

“This couldn’t have happened without the emunah of Am Yisrael, without the support of millions of Jews throughout the world, without their tefillos—and in the zechus of the powerful deeds, the fighting spirit, and the great sacrifice of the IDF soldiers—they deserve every bracha and appreciation.

“Also myself, as I led this war, I knew that I was doing it in the name of Am Yisrael and the name of the State of Israel but also as a shaliach of Hashem, Hashem Tzvakos – that’s the signifcance. We’re Jews, we have a land and a nation and we fought the war in the zechus of Toras Yisrael.”

“I want to thank everyone here for the great mobilization of the shluchim. Everywhere and at every point where soldiers go into battle, we encounter you, and it gives strength to our soldiers. We also meet you everywhere in the world. More than one person has told me that Chabad is another foreign ministry of the State of Israel. So thank you very much, you deserve much respect and appreciation. Keep up the good work.”