Israeli Soldiers Witness Netanyahu’s Lighting of Hanukkah Candles

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in special company Sunday when he lit candles in celebration of the sixth day of the Jewish observation of Hanukkah and again warned his nation’s enemies.

Israel is “being attacked on two fronts simultaneously,” Netanyahu said in remarks to soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces at Latrun. He added:

[Israel] is being attacked by the terrorism of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations. It is also under a diplomatic attack led by the Palestinian Authority and which is designed to deny us our very right to defend ourselves and seeks to deny us the legitimacy of our very existence.

Their nation is “rebuffing both of these attacks,” Netanyahu told the IDF troops.

On Friday, Hamas forces fired a rocket into southern Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that it was the third rocket launched at Israel since a truce was called Aug. 26.

“Over the weekend we sent a clear message to Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “We are not prepared to countenance the firing of even one rocket and we are responding accordingly and in strength.”

In response to the “diplomatic assault,” the prime minister called on world leaders to reject any attempt by the Palestinian Authority to impose “unacceptable” conditions on Israel through the United Nations, including the forced establishment of a Palestinian state.

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the Jewish uprising in the second century B.C. against the Greek-Syrian kingdom, which had tried to force its culture on Jews and desecrated their temple in Jerusalem.

Jews mark each of the eight days of Hanukkah, which ends today, by lighting candles on a menorah, or candleholder.

In the United States, the Associated Press notes, a national menorah has been lit in front of the White House every year since 1979, when President Carter attended the first lighting. Last Tuesday,  Vice President Joe Biden presided at the ceremony.