PM Netanyahu at the Ceremony for the President’s Award for Excellence for ISA Personnel for 2024: “The service’s contribution in thwarting over 1,200 attacks is unbelievable and also unknown. Due to your determination, professionalism, and backing, you succeeded in surprising and astonishing the entire world.”
At a festive Ceremony held at the President’s Residence, certificates of excellence were presented to 14 ISA employees by President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ceremony was held this morning, Monday (27 October 2025, in the presence of ISA Director David Zini. The honorees are veteran and young employees in various and diverse roles who perform their duties in the ISA exceptionally, while fulfilling the organization’s mission and values.
Prime Minister Netanyahu:
“The service’s contribution in thwarting over 1,200 attacks is unbelievable and also unknown. Because if there had been 1,200 attacks, you would understand it, the entire public would understand it. But we have reached a situation where we have the greatest level of alerts we have ever known, and the lowest level of attacks actually carried out we have ever known.
Today, Israel is considered, and not by exaggeration, the strongest power in the Middle East. We have changed the entire balance of deterrence and the balance of power. We did this thanks to the steadfast stand, first and foremost, of our people, our fighters, our commanders, in all of the security services, and also with the prudent decisions we have made.
I recounted in the meeting we had a few minutes ago, that when I approve these operations, we stand in the room, I can describe it to you, it is a room about this size, an auditorium like this. All of the ISA systems, all of the computers, all of the officials sit at their stations.
And a young man approaches outside, I won’t say his name, and I look him in the eyes and I ask him: ‘Will you carry this out? Are you sure of this?’ And I tell you, as the one who has to make the decision, I look him in the eyes, and if he blinks even a little, we think twice. But if he comes and says with confidence: ‘Prime Minister, I am capable. We will succeed in this.’ That is how we set out, time after time. Because of this confidence, because of this determination, because of this professionalism, because of this backing, we went out, and you succeeded in surprising and astonishing the entire world.”
Attached photo credits: Ma’ayan Toaf (GPO)
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