Israel is facing a global attack in the form of propaganda against the country and the IDF, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed during the cornerstone-laying ceremony for a memorial dedicated to Arabic-speaking Christian soldiers on Wednesday.
"The State of Israel and Israeli soldiers are portrayed not only as perpetrators of war crimes, which is the most absurd thing imaginable to say about the most moral army in the world, but they are also portrayed as persecuting minorities," he said.
Netanyahu said that Israel was actually an "island of tolerance" in the region.
"The State of Israel is the only place in the Middle East where the Christian community flourishes and grows," he said.
"Everywhere else, they are persecuted, they emigrate, or they are slaughtered. Only here do they find their place, a home we all share."
Memorial for Christian IDF soldiers shatters lie about Israel, Netanyahu says
He warned that, as lies about Israel are repeated, they become more and more accepted as the truth.
"That is why we came here today, to shatter that lie," he explained. "We are shattering it through this very ceremony and through the very fact that we do not merely protect Christians, and I am referring specifically to the latest lie: Christians protect us! All of us, together.”