Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lit the first candle of Hanukkah in Jerusalem, Israel, on Wednesday evening, and warned Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been firing missiles and drones from Yemen that they are about to learn a lesson.
The Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel early Wednesday (Christmas) morning, which was intercepted by Israel’s defense systems, though pieces of shrapnel fell on the country. A drone from Yemen reached Israel but landed in an open area, causing no injuries.
Israel has retaliated against the rebels three times, and is planning a larger counterattack, after Houthi attacks have continued.
Hanukkah (or Chanukah) celebrates the rededication of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem after it was liberated from Syrian-Greek control in the second century B.C. While the themes of the holiday are primarily religious, it is also a powerful symbol of Israel triumphing over its enemies, and it was in that sense that Netanyahu invoked it.
The Prime Minister’s Office released the following statement:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Wednesday, 25 December 2024), at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Jerusalem, lit the first Chanukah candle together with PMO employees and senior officials, and their children.
Also attending the lighting were Orna and Ronen Neutra, who met with the Prime Minister earlier today, the parents of Capt. Omer Neutra of blessed memory, an IDF Armored Corps officer who fell in the fighting in the Western Negev on October 7 and whose body was taken hostage by Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu after the candle lighting [translated from Hebrew]:
“Today we are lighting the first candle of Chanukah to mark the victory of the Maccabees then, and also the victory of ‘the Maccabees of today’.
Like then, we are striking at our enemies, and those who thought they could cut the thread of our lives here then, this will apply to them all.
The Houthis will also learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and others have learned, and this will also take time. This lesson will be learned across the Middle East, I tell you, in those days at this season.
A happy holiday to you all.”
Israeli soldiers deployed in the field also lit Hanukkah candles, from Lebanon in the north to Gaza in the south:
Hanukkah lasts eight nights and eight days, and will continue this year through January 2.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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