Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his annual Rosh Hashanah greeting. Photo: Screen shot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his annual Rosh Hashanah greeting to Israel and the Jewish world  ahead of the New Year holiday on Wednesday, telling Israelis that “there have been many achievements of which we can be proud” over the last year, including Israel’s technological prowess and its continued democratic legitimacy in a “region…experiencing unprecedented turmoil, violence, [and] extremism.”

Netanyahu addressed the current, ongoing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, which began towards the end of this year, stating that Israel wants  “a real and enduring peace. Not a ceremony, not an agreement that we celebrate for two minutes and then collapses.”

Of the global Jewish community, Netanyahu expressed his belief that it “will continue to stand by Israel, just as Israel will continue to be there for the Jewish people everywhere.”

Watch Netanyahu’s video message below.

Halfway across the world, U.S. President Barack Obama released his own greeting for the Jewish New Year. “I was proud to visit Israel earlier this year, to renew the unbreakable bond between our two countries and to talk to young Israelis about the future we share,” he said, while wishing Jews across the world “a happy and healthy New Year.”

Watch Obama’s video message below.