By COLlive reporter
In 5745, a young Israeli diplomat named Benjamin Netanyahu met with the Rebbe at Lubavitch World Headquarters – 770 Eastern Parkway.
“Regarding Lebanon,” the Rebbe told him, “ignore the responses of the Americans, the Europeans, or anyone else. Only do what you need to and don’t show any sign of weakness.”
Exactly 40 years later, it seems like Netanyahu has taken the Rebbe’s approach to heart. Israeli is currently battling Hezbollah terror forces in Lebanon despite international calls for restraint.
“In war, you must wage it with strategy,” Netanyahu, today Israel’s Prime Minister, told a delegation of Chabad rabbis who met with him on Monday ahead of the holiday of Sukkos.
The delegation included Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Aharonov, Chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in Israel and the Lubavitch Youth Organization (Tzach), members of the Chabad Beis Din and U.S. businessmen Menachem Gurevitch of Crown Heights and Zalman Schochet of Florida.
Speaking with Netanyahu, the Chabad rabbis reminded him of his discussions with the Rebbe and urged him to continue standing firm in defense of the holy land of Israel. They especially highlighted that meeting 40 years ago during Simchas Torah.
“I remember the meeting well; The Rebbe’s words were unforgettable,” Netanyahu commented, and recalled another meeting where, “the Rebbe told me that I would need to face 119 people…”
Netanyahu was gifted a set of Lulav and Esrog but was even more surprised to receive a set of editions of the Tanya that were printed More than forty years after they were printed in cities such as Beirut and Tyre during the First Lebanon War in 1982.
Authored by the Alter Rebbe, the first leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the Tanya has been printed in 10,000 editions and translated into over ten languages. It is considered the second most-printed book after the Torah.
Rabbi Ariel Lemberg of Aguch and activist R’ Chaim Yaakov Leibowitz presented the Prime Minister with handwritten letters from the Rebbe relating to the firm stance needed in the face of international pressures concerning Israel’s security.
During the meeting, Netanyahu received the Sukkos edition of the Kfar Chabad magazine from its editor Menachem Cohen. Upon seeing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump praying at the Rebbe’s Ohel on the cover, Netanyahu smiled: “Sara was there first.”
He was referring to his wife Sara Netanyahu‘s visit to the Ohel when he was recently in New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations.
According to a person present, Netanyahu repeatedly spoke about the need for “heavenly assistance” in the current situation, saying, “We need a lot of strategy in this war. We rely on miracles and need a lot of heavenly assistance.”
VIDEO:
big mistake about iran. it needs to eradicate them
We don’t want or need to eradicate Iran. We like Iranians and they generally like us. It is their regime and nuclear program that we must eradicate. And I do fear that the PM is going weak on this in response to pressure. We will not get back this opportunity to hit the nuclear program.