‘There’d be no US without the Maccabees’ – Netanyahu

“Without the Maccabees, there’d be no Judeo-Christian civilization” – Israel’s prime minister draws parallel between ancient Jewish uprising and modern Israel’s conflict with Iran and Iranian proxies.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Israel’s seven-front war against Iran and Iranian-proxies since October 7, 2023 to the Hasmonean uprising by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Greek Empire, arguing that both were crucial for Western civilization.

Netanyahu spoke at a candle-lighting ceremony at the Western Wall Plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem Monday night that featured IDF soldiers, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, chief rabbi of the Western Wall.

During the ceremony, Netanyahu said that had the Maccabees’ uprising failed, the Judeo-Christian tradition, which became the basis of Western civilization, would never have become the cultural force it is today.

“We were fighting our battle, but we were also fighting the battle of civilization, because our civilization is based on the Judeo-Christian tradition,” said Netanyahu.

“And if the Maccabees had failed, there’d be no Judaism. There would be no Judeo-Christian civilization. There would be no Huckabees. There would be no United States.

“There wouldn’t be the civilization of freedom,” he continued. “The respect for our common traditions, our common values – all of that would not happen if it weren’t for those five brave brothers. They actually made the whole difference.”

Netanyahu drew a direct parallel between the Hasmonean uprising and Israel’s conflict with Iran and Iranian proxies over the past two years.

“We are fighting today the battle that the Maccabees fought. They fought for the survival of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith against an enemy that wanted to extinguish us, wipe us out from the face of the earth.”

“That spirit animates these brave soldiers who are here today and their comrades who are fighting in Gaza or in Lebanon or Iran –wherever is necessary– to not only preserve the Jewish nation and the Jewish state, but to preserve civilization against the barbarians.

“The barbarians are out there. They did a horrible thing to us on October 7; they’ll never do it again. But they’re doing it against Jews in Sydney and Jews elsewhere in America and elsewhere. This is our common battle against the barbarians.”