Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with new recruits to the IDF, who will be drafting into the Golani and Givati brigades. Following his arrival at the Tel Hashomer base, Netanyahu met the recruits just before they donned uniforms. Afterwards, he spoke with them, answering their various questions. "I spoke with some of you," he said later. "I saw the willingness - physical and emotional. You have a great merit today: You are enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces, in great fighting units, in order to repel a brutal enemy, the monsters who attacked us, and we are striking back at them now, mercilessly, and we will beat them." "Do you want to win? Are you willing to fight? That is exactly what is needed. Good friends fell in this battle, and they fell so that we would achieve this victory. There are three goals: One, to eliminate Hamas. Two, to bring back the hostages. And three, to ensure that Gaza will never again present a threat to Israel." "This is part of a larger battle; you see that. Iran is behind Hamas, behind Hezbollah, behind others, but we are determined to beat them, and to protect ourselves in all arenas." Related articles: House probes US funding to groups tied to Israel protests We refuse to surrender to terrorism and antisemitism Who will lead the ISA after Ronen Bar? 'Israel has become a fact of life for the Arab states' Netanyahu stressed, "The most important thing we have is our spirit. This is the readiness which I see here in your eyes, in our commanders, in our military, in our nation, and I trust you. I trust you, I support you. I remember myself - I was here a few years ago. It is the same spirit which has continued before us and after us, which continues with you, and with G-d's help - together we will win. This is the most important thing for you to remember. Your friends, and some who you met now, this is the 'together,' and with this, we will win. So protect each other, protect the country - together, we will win." Netanyahu added that during his visit, he met lone soldiers, new immigrants who came to Israel specifically for the purpose of enlisting, and pre-military academy students, as well as a bereaved son and recruits who had been affected by the war. "There are amazing stories here, along with determination and a commitment to the nation of Israel and the State of Israel. It's very moving. It moves me to be here with the grandson of Mirim Peretz, whose father and uncle fell defending the State, and today he is enlisting in the Golani [Brigade]. There is no stronger expression of what I heard from him, of what I see here from other youths, these heroes, about our willingness to protect ourselves, by our own strength and with the help of the nation of Israel's special spirit. That is what we see here," he concluded.
