דברי הנשיא בכנס ה-GA של הפדרציות היהודיות בצפון אמריקה

Dear sisters and brothers, As we come together in Washington D.C., the capital of our greatest ally and friends -101 Israeli women, children and men are still missing.

They have been held in brutal captivity by Hamas terrorists, enduring hell for over 400 days.

With us here today are the families of: Yair and Eitan Horn, Arbel Yehoud, Romi Gonen, Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.

Their loved ones— our loved ones— have been held hostage for over a year. Like you, I pray for them daily, I cling to every update and I fear for their safety. As Jews we know that there is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives, פדיון שבויים. So we must all do more!

We must use every tool at our disposal and every platform within reach to bring them back home- every single one! Failure to bring our hostages home will leave our nation hemorrhaging and scarred for generations. It will tear through the delicate fabric of our people.

I call on you, American Jewish leaders, keep fighting for our people! Keep fighting to bring them home! We must all fight with every fiber of our being, do whatever we can, to bring them home immediately.

I know we all share deep love and concern for our brave IDF soldiers, our חיילים. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis chose to leave their families to fight a war we did not choose. They have been fighting on our behalf—and on your behalf as well! We all pray for their success, may God bless them and keep them, may they all return home safely, and may our wounded soldiers and civilians recover fully, in body and soul.

As President of the State of Israel, I would like to congratulate President-elect Donald Trump a champion of peace and cooperation and a great friend of Israel. In our conversation just a few days ago following his election, President Trump reiterated his love for Israel. I thanked him for his friendship, and wished him every success in realizing his vision of leading Israel and the Middle East towards a future of security and prosperity.

I take this opportunity to express gratitude and admiration towards the 46^th President of the United States, my dear friend, Joe Biden, for his lifetime of true friendship with Israel and devotion to the Jewish people. Tomorrow morning I will have the honor of meeting with President Biden and thanking him on behalf of the State and the people of Israel, for standing by us in our most difficult moment. The President’s steadfast support from the very beginning of this war, was a moving display of leadership and kinship, that Israel will never forget.

I also thank Vice President Kamala Harris, whom I have known for a number of years, for actively voicing her solidarity with the people of Israel. Vice President Harris and I spoke several times since the war broke out, I value her important voice and I looking forward to thanking her in person for her friendship and for her important message.

Dear friends, I will skip to the end: There is hope. "לא אבדה תקוותנו". But a year ago, hope seemed to be slipping away. On the evening of last year’s שמחת תורה— October 6, 2023, many of us danced and rejoiced with the torah scrolls that have infused our lives with meaning.

The next morning, October 7^th , we were awakened by sirens and cries for help. The world we knew— had shattered. The scope of horror and devastation challenged realities we trusted, and raised questions we never imagined our generation would face.

In essence, this past year I saw my people facing a choice. And I saw my people-the people of Israel—choosing life. So I would like to share with you some of what I saw and experienced, since the day our world changed.

Virtually every single day since October 7^th my wife Michal and I met with bereaved families, families of hostages, survivors and evacuees. We paid respects to thousands of mourners in Jewish, Muslim, Druze and Christian homes. We met with Nova survivors— many with PTSD, and with children left without family and without a home.

We visited almost every hospital in Israel, spoke with thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians, in emergency rooms and in rehab. We met with young women and little children who returned from cruel captivity in Gaza. We saw people who lost almost everything a human being can lose- family, love, freedom, security, livelihood, shelter. We met with tens of thousands of Israelis who went through hell— and continued hoping tomorrow will be better.

One of the profound moments I experienced this past year, a moment I will carry with me as long as I live, was standing at the bedside of IDF Captain Roi Nahari, a 23 year old Paratroopers platoon commander lying in Soroka Hospital, surrounded by his family. On October 7th, Roi dashed southward without hesitation, together with his team. They saved countless lives in a courageous battle in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, until Roi was fatally wounded.

As their son took his final breaths, Roi's parents asked Michal and me to come into the hospital room, to be with their family in their most sacred, intimate moment: their moment of parting from their beloved Roi.

We saw a mother and a father, Iris and Ronen, standing heartbroken— yet upright; We saw siblings lifting their eyes with tears— and pride; We saw Roi's twin brother, Bar, also an officer in the paratroopers, lying on him, holding him, weeping uncontrollably, unwilling to part.

I will never ever forget saying goodbye to a hero I didn’t know.

By saluting Roi during those agonizing moments, his family chose to honor the values for which he died, and the meaningful life he lived.

I said to Roi’s family what I would later repeat to the nearly 1,000 bereaved families I would meet throughout the year: I cannot change the excruciating fate— it is indeed excruciating. I can only look into the eyes of a grieving family and say on behalf of the people of Israel and the State of Israel, thank you.

Last month, as we marked one year to that black Shabbat, Michal and I traveled to nearly every community attacked by Hamas on October 7^th, beginning at 6:29 am at the Nova festival site. At every stop of the three-day journey of remembrance and reflection, we lit a yohrtzeit candle, laid a wreath, and prayed for the hostages’ return.

In each of these encounters, with warriors on the front lines and warriors on the home front, we were welcomed with broken hearts—and the mighty spirit of Israel. We saw communities literally rise from the ashes, choose life, and begin to rebuild.

This is where it dawned on me that what makes us the eternal people- עם הנצח, is our insistence on choosing life.

The American Jewish community also made a choice. You chose to mobilize for Israel like a family, instantaneously- no questions asked! You—federation members and leaders from all across America, chose to come to Israel to pay shiva calls, to provide funding, to volunteer; You chose to demonstrate solidarity, to bear witness, to fight. You chose to show up for us when we needed you the most! The warmth and the affection expressed by world Jewry gave Israelis a lifeline and motivation to persevere. This was our finest hour- and your finest hour!

Over recent weeks, the needs in Israel have expanded, spreading from South to North. The obstacles are tremendous and demand will be substantial. I commend the JFNA for your remarkable efforts up until now—and for choosing to launch a new campaign.

This past year I worked closely with the outstanding JFNA leadership—Chairperson Julie Platt, JFNA president Eric Fingerhut, and head of the Israel office Becky Caspi, along with many distinguished board members and federation presidents, who all demonstrated Jewish public service at its best.

I thank you all for leading this magnificent, historic operation and I cherish the trust and the friendship we share.

The global Jewish community faces considerable challenges. The terrifying scenes from Amsterdam, just a few days ago, in which Israelis and Jews ran for their lives in the heart of a European city, invoked dark images we declared never to see again. The civilized world cannot tolerate a mob seeking out Jews- and we will not allow this to be normalized! Israelis have been following with great concern the startling wave of antisemitism, both systemic and instigated, flooding the United States and the Jewish world. We see the widespread hatred, and the infectious ignorance, and our hearts ache.

The wellbeing of Jews in the United States, in Europe, and across the globe is intrinsic to who I am as a Jew, as an Israeli. Speaking as head of the nation state of the Jewish people it is clear this is a struggle we share and a challenge we face together. I am deeply invested in this urgent battle and I applaud each of you for choosing to be at the forefront, working with Jewish organizations all over the world to safeguard the Jewish people.

Much of the antisemitism we are seeing is a variation of the age-old hatred of Jews. But for many years now, we have seen the engine behind the modern-day antisemitism: The Iranian regime. The Iranian regime calls for the annihilation of the State of Israel openly and blatantly. It is truly an empire of evil, spreading hatred through its many proxies, social networks and agents all over the world. It is seeking nuclear weapons. The Ayatollah regime is our enemy because of its intentions and actions.

Still, we must differentiate between the regime-and the Iranian people, who deserve better. It is clear to me, that most of them seek the same peace and freedom to which we aspire.  

I call on the Iranian people, who come from a rich tradition of proud heritage and culture, to choose to rise up and change the direction to which their leaders are dragging them. From here, in Washington D.C., I call on the free world to challenge the barbarism with force and conviction, without fear, united with our allies- chief among them the United States of America!

October 7^th was a defining moment in Jewish history, not only because of the massive devastation, but because it reminded Jews that we need each other- and that we have each other. We have all seen how much strength we can summon and how much comfort we draw from choosing to come together as one people.

A number of months ago, I launched my presidential initiative titled: "Voice of the People"- "קול העם". With the combined efforts of our extraordinary partners, “Voice of the people” will serve as a global Jewish taskforce, offering practical solutions for the matters most concerning the Jewish people.

Because the only way to navigate the challenges our people are facing- is to face them together, as a people. The countless examples of pure courage and sacrifice that I was fortunate to learn about, taught me that we are an eternal people not because we are survivors— but because we are believers and because we are fighters: We fight for our people; we fight for our Jewish values and Jewish identities; we fight for our Jewish souls; we fight for our Jewish communities; we fight for our beloved, Jewish, democratic State of Israel; we fight for the future of our children. We are eternal because of the choices we make- because we choose life and because we choose each other!

Right now, today, we can choose not to be defined by the tragedy that struck us, but to define ourselves by the resilience with which we emerge from it! Because if we cry together rally together, mourn together- we can also choose to rebuild together! We are all stakeholders in the Jewish future, and the choice is ours.

A few months ago I spoke with a grieving, young mother who said to me that choosing life is difficult, because it forces her to face the loss every single day. But I told her that עם ישראל חי is not a birthright, nor a privilege.

It is a duty, and it is a choice that we make every moment of every day. Let us choose to rebuild our eternity together. לא אבדה תקוותנו! There is hope! Thank you.