Olmert: Our existence depends on our willingness to defend ourselves

By JPOST.COM STAFF
"The siren sounded across the country and the clock of life in Israel stopped for one minute," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday at the opening of his speech at the Remembrance Day ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. "Remembrance Day is a sad day but bereft of all strife and very Israeli," Olmert said. "Anyone who identifies with the flag… even if he is on the other end of the planet will identify with this day… No one in Israel is estranged from the impact of loss." "Only you, the families, take part in the world of the loved ones who are gone," he continued. "Dear families, I cannot console you with words, for they do not offer relief for the sorrow." "Our entire national existence… depends on our willingness and ability to defend ourselves… to battle the enemy… Your sons and daughters gave their lives for a supreme cause," he said. "Peace and not war is our ends and the thing we long for."