Israeli Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz addresses the Knesset, in Jerusalem, May 17, 2020. Photo: Adina Valman / Knesset spokespersons’ office / Handout via Reuters.

Israel’s Knesset celebrated its 75th year anniversary in a special session at Israel’s parliament building in Jerusalem, with politicians vowing victory while also trading punches.

“We will continue to strive with determination to defeat the enemy that stands before us and in doing so we will fulfill the wishes of our dear sons,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that “the image of the IDF destroying the parliament building in Gaza is a strong and important image of victory, and the establishment of the Knesset on this day is also a victory. Every democracy, big or small, is put to the test during the war and even in the current test we will stand together and win. Every day we prove to our enemies that they were very wrong. We suffered a very hard blow on October 7, but we got back on our feet very quickly.”

Israel’s Knesset, meaning “gathering” in English, first convened on February 14, 1949, also the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, which begins Wednesday evening. As is the case with most holidays in Israel, the dates are marked according to the Hebrew calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.

President Isaac Herzog spoke, telling those gathered “On the birthday of the Knesset of Israel, the temple of our democracy, it is important for me to emphasize that unity is not uniformity, unity is not gagging, unity is not the cessation of discussion and debate on matters that concern the core of the state’s existence. The legislators are the temple of Israeli debate and discussion, and the space for making the decisions that have the most impact on our lives. That’s how it was, and that’s how it will be.”

Pointing to the political turmoil that preceded the war, the president added ”This house will soon hold the most important and stormy debates there are. On war and peace, on the day before and after, on security, economy and society… it is forbidden to return to the conversation of October 6.”

The Knesset was the first sovereign Jewish governing body in the land of Israel since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. Currently in its 25th governing coalition, Israel’s legislative body is parliamentary, meaning that voters choose parties instead of candidates, and the leaders of those parties are then tasked with forming a coalition government comprising members of their own parties and others. The leader of the Knesset is the prime minister, currently Benjamin Netanyahu.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid took shots at the government, saying “What is there to celebrate? The political system is not the solution, it is the problem… How did we get to a situation where the citizens of Israel feel that we have lost control and no one is taking care of it? Israel will win the war, but the victory is not only in the fact that we kill Sinwar, it is in the fact that we are better to each other, as a nation. We know today that the fact that we did not change led to the greatest disaster in our history.”

The Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana added at the event “The Knesset’s 75th birthday is not a happy one. The nation of Israel is in one of its most difficult moments, fighting for its right to life and security, to peace and tranquility.” He asked those in attendance to honor the soldiers’ and civilians who have perished since the war’s outbreak on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing over 1,200 and taking hostage more than 240, with a minute of silence.

Concluding, he quoted a fallen soldier: “‘Perhaps I fell in battle,’ wrote Elkanah Wiesel of Bnei Dekalim who fell this week. ‘Don’t be sad when you part with me. Please be optimistic. Keep choosing life all the time. A life of love, hope, purity, and optimism.’ This house was not always characterized by all these. Shall we consider, all of us, to agree to the prayer of a fallen soldier, to strengthen each other?”