​ (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday, 27 February 2018), at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, met with Israel National Defense College course participants under the command of GOC Military Colleges Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram.
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu said:
 
"We will discuss our national defense policy as I see it. You are leading partners in this because you will go from here to the various defense arms of the State of Israel; therefore, it is important to know where you are going, where we are going, what our aspirations are and what our concepts are. These are very important. In a small country like Israel one thing is certain: We must maintain defensive, offensive and deterrent capabilities, the latter forming the basis of our defensive capability.
 
There is one basic distinction, which is certainly true in the Middle East; I think it already embraces the world. It could be that this distinction was not clear at the outset but I think that today it is shared by almost everyone. The simplest thing, at least in our region, is that the chances that the weak will survive are not high. It is the strong who survive, I would say the wise as well, but the weak will not survive. Therefore, the basic condition for the existence of a state such as ours, in a place where whole countries and states are simply destroyed very quickly is that one must be strong and not weak. Thus the first thing I say is 'What are the strengths that define the overall might of the State of Israel?' I say that there are four such strengths and the first is military strength. Without this one has nothing."
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu added:
 
"You must be capable of defending yourself. My policy is zero trickles. There is no such thing as a trickle or drizzle. We respond immediately. This has not always been the policy but it is proving itself."