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Distinguished Guests,
Honorable President, our friend, Mr. Shimon Peres,
My Friend, the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak and his wife,
Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi,
My wife, Sara,
Generations of Fighters,
Every generation has its fighters, every generation has its commanders, every generation has those who are outstanding. A moment ago, I said to the Minister of Defense that those gathered here are the best fighters and commanders that we have ever had, some of them are even from the generation of 1948 and they have bequeathed a living legacy up until now and from now onwards, a legacy of fortitude, a legacy of comradeship between soldiers and a legacy of looking out for each other.
The IDF is a powerful force of revival for the Jewish people, because we have discovered anew our ability to defend ourselves, which has brought about great changes in our people's history. Alongside this discovery, wonderful things have occurred which have found expression in the fact that each and every soldier knows that we will do everything in our power to ensure that they return home safe and sound. We have a commitment to the fate of our missing soldiers, to all of them without exception, we have a commitment to return Gilad Shalit safe and sound to his parents, and we have an enormous commitment to defend the State of Israel, its security and its future.
The citizens of Israel have complete faith in the IDF and in the security services, in the commanders, in the Chief of General Staff and in all those involved in this work. I think that you, Mr. President, expressed the feeling well: the feeling of security in spite of the difficulties and in the presence of these difficulties, the feeling that we are a strong people, a composed people, a people that can contend with all of these difficulties. 'The Hope' (Hatikva) is not only an anthem; hope is also a way of life for us, it is what has brought us here, it is what gives us the strength to continue and on this day, the State of Israel's 61st Independence Day, we salute the IDF and Israel's fighters throughout the generations, and we are full of hope for the future.
Happy Independence Day.
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