Israel is an army that whose basis is morality – no matter what outside organizations or countries say, said Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Defense Minister. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students of pre-military academies Wednesday, Ben-Dahan said that he “felt a great privilege to be standing here with the future officers of the IDF. You are the quality future of the army. Each of you represent an important foundation in the army, and among the Jewish people.”

Ben-Dahan quoted the Prophet Zechariah, “who showed us the way to victory over the nations – ‘not by might, but by my Spirit, says the L-rd of Hosts.’ Your most important task is to increase the spiritual strength and protection of the IDF,” said Ben-Dahan. “Your task is to show the IDF has the most moral army in the world, an army based on Judaism and Zionism. The IDF is has more strength and capabilities than any other army in the world.”

The pre-military academy program takes place for a year between the end of high school and the beginning of army service. For religious high school graduates who do not attend Hesder yeshiva, the pre-military program is a way to get advanced Jewish education and preparation for army service.

The program and its students, said Ben-Dahan, “are proof, like the IDF itself, that the entire nation – Sephardim and Ashkenazim, religious and secular, immigrants and veteran residents, male and female soldiers, are all united around the same cause.”