Israeli Officials Join Australian, New Zealand Guests to Mark Century of Beer Sheva Victory

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin and a host of Israeli officials and politicians joined Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, New Zealand Governor General Dame Patricia Reddy and members of the diplomatic corps at the British World War I Cemetery in Beer Sheva Tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beer Sheva. The battle represented Britain’s final push to break through the city on the way from Gaza to Jerusalem at the tail end of World War I. The victory was a key landmark in dislodging the Ottoman Empire from Jerusalem and bringing about the final collapse of Ottoman rule in the Holy Land. Prime Minister Netanyahu recalled the city’s Biblical roots before moving on to the modern history, which he said laid the ground for a “natural kinship” between Israel, Australia and New Zealand. “(The Battle of Beer Sheva) was a historic milestone in the natural kinship between our peoples. When I say natural, I don’t just mean the way we address life and each other, that easy informality, that warmth… I mean something deeper, because there’s a historical significance of what happened here. ANZAC soldiers went on to capture Jerusalem, Tiberius, Megiddo, then continued northward. They were actually retracing the footsteps of the heroes of the Bible. They were stepping on the verses of the Bible, and they knew it,” Netanyahu said.   The premier then noted the relative strength of the forces a century ago - just 800 cavalry faced off against 4,000 embedded Turks with machine guns and with bunkers - and won. That spirit, Netanyahu said, also defines the spirit of the IDF. “We seek peace with all our neighbors, but we will not tolerate any attacks on our sovereignty, on our people, on our land, whether from the air, from the sea, from the ground or below the ground. We attack those who seek to attack us. "To those who contemplate (attacking Israel), I strongly advise you: Do not test the will of the State of Israel or the army of Israel,” Netanyahu said. Other events to mark the occasion will include a cavalry parade in the Old City of Beer Sheva, re-enactment of the cavalry charge, at Beer Sheva River Park.