Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90
Jews burn leavened items in a final preparation before Passover in the Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem, April 11, 2025
(JNS) — In a heartfelt Passover message delivered on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged national unity and remembrance amid the ongoing war against Hamas.
“On seder night, we gather with our loved ones to recount the journey from slavery to freedom,” the prime minister said. “But this year, many families will see empty chairs — those of our hostages still held by Hamas, our fallen heroes, and the wounded who are fighting to return to life.”
Netanyahu invoked the final words of slain IDF soldier Elkana Wiesel, who told his family: “Sing and support each other because we are the generation of redemption.”
“Ours is the generation of redemption, the generation of victory,” the prime minister said. “Together we will return our hostages. Together we will defeat our enemies.”
Reflecting on the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, he declared, “There were those who thought we would drown. But we rose with strength and shattered the axis of evil.
“In every generation, they rise against us — but God and the spirit of our fighters save us,” Netanyahu said. “A kosher Passover to the entire Jewish people.”
