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Israel can and must protect its own borders as well as Jews around the world, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz said Monday at an IDF General Staff seminar at Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.
"Today we stand against any threat with an army that is capable of beating all its enemies. We must defend the borders of Israel and all its communities, but we must also look around and pay attention to every place where a Jew is harmed for being guilty of nothing but his Jewish identity," Gantz said, speaking three days ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"If a Jew is beaten on his way out of a synagogue in Kiev; if Jewish children in Toulouse are murdered in cold blood; if in India, Thailand and Georgia hostile elements try to harm Israeli and Jewish targets – we must stand firmer than ever," Gantz stated.
The seminar day – which has become a tradition in the IDF- this year focused on instilling the memory of the Holocaust in Israeli society, and specifically in the army. During the seminar a special memorial ceremony was held in the Hall of Names.