Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday, 11 September 2012), made the following remarks at the welcoming ceremony for Israel's Paralympic athletes<http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2012/Netanyahu_Livnat_host_Israel_Paralympic_athletes_14-Aug-2012.htm>, at President Shimon Peres' Jerusalem Residence:

"We met last month at a very moving ceremony at the Prime Minister's Office and before you left you gave this to me, Noam – not a medal but a medallion of the Paralympic Games in London. I saw this as a deposit. You gave me this medallion and you have returned with medals. To tell the truth, I must tell you that I did not think that you would return with so many medals. Bronze, silver and gold, this is very moving. As President Shimon Peres said, and as Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat will certainly say, Noam, when you stood there and heard the national anthem and you cried, I also cried and the entire country identified with you. All of you represent the Israeli spirit at its best. Once, it was said that the best became pilots, they still say that. Today, they say that the best play tennis. I think that the fact that you struggled and you won here, this is what moved us all. I phoned some of you and congratulated you and you told me, Mr. Prime Minister, you remember the issue of the broadcasts, we finished the greetings very quickly and went on to talk about the broadcasts. Then we all watched you and you were simply marvelous. You uplifted an entire nation. First of all, I would like to give you this medal on behalf of the entire nation. You were simply fantastic. I would like to say that this country arose on the basis of a simple, short and very strong saying: If you will it, it is no dream. You willed it and it was no dream."

PHOTOS  Amos Ben Guershon   La' Ham