Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined IDF soldiers to light the second Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall on Monday night.
During the event, Netanyahu compared the IDF soldiers to the Maccabees in the Hanukkah story.
"We are essentially performing the same miracles that the Maccabees performed 2,200 years ago," he said, "They stood against a force that tried to wipe the people of Israel, the Jews, and Judaism off the face of the earth."
He stated that the soldiers had fought a war of "the people of culture, the people of light against the people of darkness," telling them they were winning and performing miracles through their bravery.
Trump to Netanyahu: 'Where does Israel's stength come from?'
Netanyahu also discussed US President Donald Trump at the event, and insinuated that Trump is impressed by Israel's capabilities.
"President Trump asks me, 'How do you do it? Israel is so small, and they are so many, a small country and its neighbors are so large. Where does this strength come from?'"
Netanyahu said that the answer lies in Israel's heritage, its people's faith, and "our understanding that we will not allow anyone to sever the life-thread of the people of Israel."
"I salute you here, next to the Western Wall, where our Maccabee heroes dedicated the Temple," Netanyahu concluded.
Also in attendance at the event were Netanyahu's wife, Sara; US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet; Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, and his wife; and Western Wall Heritage Foundation Director Mordechai (Soli) Eliav.