Excellencies, 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Dear Friends.

Today is an extraordinary day for the State of Israel. We are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. So let me start by thanking all of you for being here with us tonight, and showing your friendship toward the State and the people of Israel. 

“It is not enough to be up to date, you have to be up to tomorrow.”

This quote, by Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, is the key to what it means to be Israeli. 

From the ashes of Europe and the sands of the Middle East, a once dispersed people gathered in a land with nothing but a vision – to reconstitute the Jewish people’s national home, a model democratic society that would take its part in advancing human progress. ​

In a mere seventy years, the State of Israel has become an embodiment of this dream – it has integrated millions of people from different ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds and united them as one nation. It has given the world innovative solutions that are now universal – cherry tomatoes, the USB, drip irrigation, groundbreaking assistive technologies – and also our very own international Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot…

– you may find some of these in the inspiring exhibition that surrounds us here today. 

But these wonderful achievements came at great cost. Throughout its existence, and even before it, Israel has faced trials and adversity. A small country with few resources and many enemies, we have had to fight for every bit of success. To this day, many challenges remain and we are not yet as safe as we would like to be. All of you are aware of the current geopolitical tensions of our region. Considering the complex region we are in, Israel seeks to strike a delicate balance between safeguarding our people and our borders with seeking peace in every step we take.

Let me invite you on a brief tour on how Israelis commemorate this special two-day period, so you can experience it for yourselves. 

The day before Yom Haatzma’ut, Israelis embrace each other in a day of shared grief – Yom Hazikaron. On this Memorial Day, we commemorate the thousands of our sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives to defend our country. Their losses leave a void that never fills, and their absence is always felt. Israelis gather in military cemeteries and city squares to raise their voices in words and melodies written entirely in Hebrew – that ancient language that was miraculously revived in this old-new country. 

When Memorial Day ends, the joyous celebrations of Independence Day begin. Amidst fireworks and street festivals, a state ceremony is held in Jerusalem where 12 torches, representing the biblical tribes of ancient Israel, are lit by 12 exemplary citizens who represent the diversity of our society. The following day, families gather at picnics and parks to celebrate together our country, where we have the freedom to chart our own destiny.  

To push the limits and defy the odds – that is what it means to be Israeli. I know many of you have often heard the words Israel and innovation in the same sentence, but it truly is our defining feature. Zionism – the aspiration of the Jewish people for self-determination in Israel – was in its early beginning an entirely new concept. After two thousand years in the diaspora, early Zionists were considered madmen by their peers. Yet they dared to move ahead with a seemingly impossible dream and made it a reality. 

This year, we are also celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The principles enshrined in it, developed in the aftermath of WWII and the Holocaust, were also a bold initiative at the time of their writing. The United Nations and its Member States embarked upon an initiative to find what brings us together as countries and as individuals. Today, these principles are nearly universally recognized, and sometimes even taken for granted. For Israel, they will always be the bond that ties us together in our work here, despite the differences and challenges we may face at times. 

Aside from innovation, another defining feature of Israel is hope. Our national anthem, which we will sing in a few moments, is aptly named “Hatikva”, the hope, and Israel’s unofficial moto is “יהיה בסדר”, everything will be all right. Countless Israeli songs, inspired by the prophets of the Bible and the spirit of our nation, express a yearning for better, more peaceful days where we lay down our swords and join hands as partners. 

But hope is not enough. Many people know Theodore Herzl’s most famous quote – “If you wish it, it is no dream.” But not many are familiar with its second part – “if you do not wish it… it will remain a fable.” For the next seventy years, I wish for us to always dream big, and dare to do the impossible with Israeli Chutzpah even if the odds are against us. I wish for us to innovate, to fight for what we care about, to love unto one another as we do unto ourselves. 

And I wish Israel a very happy birthday. 

I invite all those who know it, to now sing Israel’s anthem.