Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Monday, 25 September 2017), made the following remarks at a Jewish New Year's toast at Prime Minister's Office:

"We have many friends. Another friend, Angela Merkel has just won the German government elections. It is good that someone wins for the fourth time; it is a sign for the fifth.

Israel is a rising global power, this is a fact: In technology, security, the economy, intelligence, cyber, water, agriculture and health, in so many fields. And of course, we are a global power in the sense that we are a free country, a vibrant democracy in a region the regimes of which are not exactly outstanding in this regard, to put it mildly. I think that this is possible thanks to the power of life of our people. This country has an abundance of spirit and we, as human beings and citizens who have made this marvelous journey, feel that we are contributing something more."