“Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible approximately 650 times. The reason is simple: For over 3,000 years it has been the capital of our people, and only of our people,” Netanyahu said.
By: United with Israel Staff
In 2018, ahead of Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day – Israel’s cabinet held its weekly Sunday meeting at the Bible Lands Museum in honor of the 51st anniversary of the reunification of Israel’s capital during the 1967 Six Day War.
“Boker Tov” is Hebrew for “Good Morning.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his remarks by saying “Boker TOY” in a nod to Israeli singer Netta Barzilai, who had recently won the Eurovision Song Contest with her hit “Toy.”
“These days Jerusalem is being blessed with many gifts. We received another one last night with Netta’s thrilling and suspenseful victory. The gift is that Eurovision will come to Jerusalem next year; we will be very proud to host it,” Netanyahu stated.
“I think that we will deal with everything involved in order to enable another major event with a large international audience to be held in our city, in our country,” he said. Jerusalem had just concluded hosting the Big Start of the Giro De’Italia cycling race, which was held outside Europe for the first time in its history.
Turning to what was the pending move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that “this week we will be blessed with a truly historical event, and this is the decision of the greatest major power in the world, our friend the United States, to move its embassy here.”
“President Trump promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – and did so. He promised to move the American embassy – and is doing so. Of course we will all celebrate this day tomorrow, it is truly a celebration. Afterwards, two additional embassies – Guatemala and Paraguay – will come here, and others are on the way,” the prime minister stated.
“It is not for nothing that we are marking Jerusalem Day today at the Bible Lands Museum,” he continued. “Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible approximately 650 times. The reason is simple: For over 3,000 years it has been the capital of our people, and only of our people.”
‘We are Bound to This City’
The Jewish people “dreamed of returning to rebuild it, the city that is joined together,” and therefore the government is announcing a series of decisions to “build up and develop Jerusalem, east and west, north and south, in all directions – to both reveal its past and build its future.”
He acknowledged that “there will be difficulties along the way; there have been difficulties for the past 70 years. We have met them since 1949 and up to recent years. We will also meet them in the future.”
“Jerusalem above and Jerusalem below, we are bound to this city. It is part of our soul, part of our experience, on both our material and spiritual sides,” he added.
Concluding, he related to the “major events that are currently taking place. We are honoring the words of the prophet Joel, ‘But Judah shall be inhabited forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation.'”
Sign the Declaration to Keep Jerusalem United
Jerusalem Must Remain the United Capital of Israel
I declare that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People and support all efforts to maintain and strengthen a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel.