Defense Minister Liberman wishes IDF soldiers a happy new year

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman visited IDF troops at the Herodium military base and the 7th Armored Brigade on Sunday to wish them a happy new year and thank them for their service, according to a press statement. Located in the West Bank near the highest peak in the Judaen Desert, the soldiers stationed in Herodium military base are also responsible for the personal security of the residents of Nokdim — including Liberman himself."I came here to say a personal thank you to the Herodium company," Liberman said, "those who serve in it accompany me and many others daily." It is the intensive and hard work carried out by IDF troops that "really allows us to exist, to be happy, and to grow", the minister said before wishing all present a good new year. Herodium military base is built near Herodium National Park, the site of one of King Herod's palace fortresses.Known in Arabic as Jabal al-Fureidis [the mountain of the little paradise] and by the Crusaders as "Mountain of the Franks," the original fortress was destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE and discovered by the late Franciscan Friar Virgilio Canio Corbo and father Stanislao Loffreda in 1960s.