Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday met with Thomas Nides, the new US Ambassador to Israel, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Ambassador lit candles for the eighth night of Chanukah.
Prime Minister Bennett said at the meeting:
“I want to welcome you, Mr. Ambassador to Israel, to Jerusalem. I couldn’t think of a better opportunity than the eighth candle of Chanukah. Chanukah is a symbol of light, and how light can prevail upon darkness. And right over here, about 2,100 years ago, the Maccabees were fighting a much bigger enemy, but we prevailed. We prevailed because we fought for good, we fought for freedom.
“Now it’s with much pride that I stand here as the prime minister of Israel, with our biggest friend in the world, the United States of America. It has been said so many times that we share common values, but it’s not a cliché. I mean, we use it a lot, but it’s simply a profound truth, the most fundamental values—the values of freedom.
“The Jewish people were a symbol of freedom in America, brought democracy and freedom to the world—values of good faith, of cooperation. Values of doing good, simply waking up in the morning and trying to do good, even while we’re sometimes imperfect.
“Next week will mark half a year for this new government. When we formed the government, we called it a government of goodwill and good spirit. And this good spirit does not only exist domestically, but it’s also between us and the United States of America.
“I want to thank President Biden and the administration for the warm friendship, for the candidness, for the approach of making Israel once again a bipartisan issue, and not partisan.
“I know we’re going to do a lot of great things together. Welcome back to Israel and best of luck, my friend.”