Madam Minister of Education, Prof. Yuli Tamir,
Chairman of the Jewish Agency and the Zionist Federation, Zeev Bielski,
Chairman of the board of judges, Mr. Aharon Yadlin,
Representatives of all institutes, the board of judges and the many guests, including IDF generals, and of course, the contestants, headed by the winner of the International Bible Quiz, Tzurit Berenson,

"Suddenly, a man wakes up in the morning and feels that he is a nation and starts walking", wrote poet Amir Gilboa.  This festive feeling of a man's revival, a nation's revival, accompanies us today as we mark sixty years of independence.  However, this nation did not arise "suddenly". It emerged after two thousand years, out of the soil of David and Saul, Deborah and Gideon, Barak and Samson.  From among the pages of the Bible, in which you are so well versed, rises the sought-after image of the Land of Israel, as is depicted in Deuteronomy:
"…a Land with streams of water, of springs and underground water coming forth in valley and mountain; a Land of wheat, barley, grape, fig, and pomegranate; a Land of olive, oil and honey; a Land where you will eat bread without poverty and will lack nothing there; a Land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you will mine copper."

While this land was promised to Abraham, his journey to it was strewn with sacrifice: "Go for yourself from the land, from your relatives and from your father's house to the land that I will show you", G-d commands Abraham, and since then, for thousands of years, millions of Jewish hearts have not ceased yearning for this land, the Land of Israel, the land promised by G-d to Abraham's descendants.
We, too, came here from all ends of the universe, on a long and arduous path, rife with famine, disease and wars.  Our grandparents and parents, neighbors and friends, left behind their birthplaces and their parents' homes and followed their hearts to the Land of Israel.

But there was another command from G-d to Abraham: "please take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; bring him there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you", said the Lord, putting Abraham to the most merciless of all tests.
Unfortunately, this command has also been part of our lives for thousands of years, and we continue to sacrifice our sons at the altar of this land.  Unlike the biblical story, here, in the reality of our wars in the defense of this nation, there is no divine voice saving the boy's life at the last minute.  Yitzhak was saved and survived, but the State of Israel continues to sacrifice its sons and daughters for the realization of our right to live here.
On Israel's 60th anniversary, we can say that G-d has kept His promise, and we, the descendants of Abraham, have inherited this land, populated it, made the desert bloom, built it and glorified it.  The spirit of sacrifice still beats inside us, and repeatedly places us in the most agonizing trials. 

To you, Quiz participants and dear guests, I say: do not settle for the pages of the Bible. Study them well, but tour this land with your feet, sense the soil, as did our heroes 3,000 years ago, and thus, through direct contact, continue to love the land of Israel, the State of Israel, as it is the historic promise which was kept, the alliance made, the symbol of all symbols which has become a reality.

Thank you and Hag Sameach to all the people of Israel.