President of the State of Israel Yitzhak Herzog hosted the ceremony today (Sunday) to award the 'Jerusalem Prize for Israeli Unity.' This year's ceremony was themed 'Now We're Talking.'.
The president used the state stage to send a strong message against manifestations of violence on the margins of society, and condemned the violence of extremists against Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
""I wish I could only talk about unity today. But unfortunately, we are going through days when not only is violence raising its head, but alongside it, on the margins of glorious Israeli society, a terrible process is creeping in, a terrible process of bestiality. This is a slow and worrying process that threatens to enter the mainstream of Israeli society, and we will not let it.".
According to the president, "There are parts of us who are barely shocked by violence, other parts make light of it, hardly a day goes by without a murder in Arab society, and no one is shocked or surprised anymore. There are parts on the fringes of our society that have normalized violence, and there are, unfortunately, those who exaggerate and even celebrate it, bragging about it.".
""We are witnessing a terrible wave of violence being carried out by an anarchist mob in Judea and Samaria. Acts that defile the home and violate every basic, moral, legal or Jewish norm. I heard from a group of senior commanders in Judea and Samaria - who thwart terror in the sector with tremendous success - that there are days when they are forced to spend most of their time dealing with criminal anarchists.".
He added: "We are exposed to the degrading and ugly behavior of extremists against Christians and Muslims who live among us. As if the basic morality of humans has no meaning for the commandments in the Torah of Israel, to love the stranger living alongside us.".
The president continued to attack National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir: "We are exposed to the bestial actions of a handful of people who think that detainees, interrogators, or suspects have no human rights. A beloved man created in the image of God, our sources say.
""I stand here and say out loud - unity begins with humanity. And preserving the dignity of man, the image of God in him, is a fundamental condition for the entire edifice we are building. Even in the most just war of all wars, yes, in the most just war of all wars, we must preserve the image of God within us and in everyone who lives among us, or by our side.
""Our people are a magnificent people, with enormous powers, but in order for us to be able to act with them, we must set red lines. We must not abuse detainees, no matter how despicable they may be. We must not take the law into our own hands, we must not harm members of other religions and their symbols, and we must not contain this bestiality, which emerges from the margins of society and threatens us all.".
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in response to the 'animal speech': "A president of a country who calls hundreds of thousands of citizens of the State of Israel animals is not worthy of being president. Period.".
""I am proud of the changes I led in prisons, in stopping terrorist camps, in the fact that prisons have become real prisons - and the fact that the State of Israel no longer turns the other cheek to supporters of terror."
The Jerusalem Prize for Israeli Unity was born as a social initiative on behalf of the families of the boys Ifrach, Shaar, and Frankel, and former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, following the kidnapping of Eyal, Gil-Ad, and Naftali in the summer of 2014, and to honor the unity that enveloped Israeli society and Diaspora Jewry at the time.
During the ceremony, led by Bat Galim Shaar, awards were presented to five organizations and authorities for their contributions to connections among the people.
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