Hebrew → English transcript

These days are hard days for me. We are just about to enter the holiday,

and I am taking stock of my soul with myself,

and I could not enter this holiday without asking for forgiveness and pardon

from people who were hurt by me. But it is important to me, very important to me,

that people also hear the story from my side, and therefore I

will read out what I have to say.

The story that was published was about five years ago,

when I came back from a trip to Morocco. A correspondence with a private friend,

Tzachi Dvosh,

in personal WhatsApp conversations between us. Tzachi Dvosh chose

to take out and leak the conversations

between us out of his own personal

interest, and out of the fact that he

wanted to hurt me.

The exchanges that were quoted were part of a private joke,

a private joke between us. But this joke also

should not have been said even in private. Once it went out into the world,

I understand that people were hurt, I understand that very well.

Therefore I want to apologize to everyone who was hurt by me,

and also to anyone who was hurt by the way things were presented in the media.

I want to clarify, racism

She is far from who I am. I am not a racist, I am actually the opposite of that.

I want to say that the Moroccan community is a magnificent community,

a community that contributes a great deal

to Israeli society,

and that the members of the community, friends, we see them everywhere.

In the army in senior positions, in politics, in the economy,

they simply make an enormous contribution to the State of Israel.

The things that were said are not what I truly think. It

really was said

as a joke, a joke

that should not

have been said. I was raised in a home that taught

me to love human beings, every human being.

Regardless of race, religion, or gender. We were raised on Zionism.

My family and I immigrated to Israel from the United States

with a Zionist purpose. I was drafted into the army,

I served a full and very effective service. Afterwards

I built my entire life in the moshav

where I live today.

All of it based on values and on love of the land. When I was called up

to help the prime minister, I immediately put my entire

life aside. I came in order

to stand by a great leader at critical moments.

I had the privilege of being next to this leader at very significant moments

and in this war of existence. Yes,

I also thought on October seventh

that the prime minister had finished his political career. But very quickly,

when I started working with him,

I understood that we are dealing here with a leader who simply revealed

himself as a lion, standing on his own feet and fighting battle after

battle for the State of Israel, in order to bring

all of us together with the heroic IDF soldiers,

and our brave female and male pilots, to victory. All of us, this entire nation,

will contribute to this victory. At the same time, as part of my work

in the office, I was exposed

to the great activity of Mrs.

Sara Netanyahu. Much of it was not exposed

to the camera lens.

But yes, she came to support the families of the hostages, the hostages themselves,

to visit the wounded in the hospitals,

to support the families of soldiers in regular service and in the reserves,

and she simply did an enormous job.

I also received a lot of emotion from her. In conclusion,

I want to say that on Passover we read in the Haggadah and say, in every

generation a person must see

as if he himself came out of Egypt. And I am here now, at this moment, truly wanting

to act out of responsibility,

a sense of mission for the State of Israel,

and as a correction for the words I said that should not have been said.

I ask that you too, those who were hurt by me, accept my apology,

and that together we continue on

this path for the State of Israel with determination and in order to bring victory.

Thank you very much, thank you for your understanding,

and thank you for your trust.