Netanyahu ahead of Chanukah: "The State of Israel is a great light," the Israeli premier told lawmakers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday cast the nation’s wars as a battle of light versus darkness, likening Israel Defense Forces troops to the Maccabees, ushering in a rebirth of Jewish national pride.
“Since the war broke out, we have emphasized that this is a struggle of good versus evil, of light versus darkness,” the longtime leader of the Jewish state told lawmakers during a 40-signature debate, which the opposition can can once a month and which he is required to attend.
He noted that Chanukah, which starts on Dec. 14, commemorates the story of the Maccabees, who led a revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire that ended in victory and the rededication of the Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount around 2,200 years ago.