‘A generation of lions’ – former PM Bennett speaks at Liberty University about Israel’s greatest generation

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently spoke at one of the largest Christian universities in the United States, Liberty University. 

Bennett began by thanking Liberty University for “sending prayers to the State of Israel.” 

“I want to thank you,” Bennett told the students, “because I know that since October 7, every day, all of you have been sending prayers to the state of Israel to the fighters, and it matters. So, thank you very much.” 

The former prime minister shared that on that morning, two things happened at the same time – the government of Israel experienced its greatest failure, while the younger generation rose to its greatest challenge. 

Bennett shared how thousands of young Israelis, “just about your age,” answered the call of distress from their fellow countrymen, their brothers and sisters, by running towards the scenes of massacre; to fight and to save lives. 

“They didn’t know what is going on,” Bennett related. “They just knew that a horrible thing is going on.” 

Many of them grabbed whatever weapon was available – “maybe a pistol, maybe a rifle, sometimes with their bare hands,” and went “to rescue their brothers and sisters.” 

“For 12 hours straight, there were face-to-face battles of young men and women repelling these terrorists,” Bennett explained. “Many of them lost their lives.” 

The former prime minister said ordinary Israeli citizens took action on a day when their government and security agencies failed them, and were willing to give their all, even for people they'd never met. 

Bennett told the students how he had often misjudged the younger generation, calling them the “Tik-Tok generation.” 

He shared how the realization came to him, after talking with a young Israeli tank commander, Tal Biton, who took her all-female tank unit down to the border, where the fence had been breached, and fought off around 80 terrorists for five hours, preventing a massacre at the two communities next to the breach. 

After about an hour and a half of conversation, Tal asked Bennett for a favor. Thinking she would ask for help with something related to university, he agreed, when she said, “Could we do a Tik-Tok together?” 

That was the moment, Bennett said, when he realized the truth. 

“The institutions of Israel, the government of Israel. Failed on that day, but the younger generation proved that it is a generation of lions,” the former prime minister said. “And I’ll tell you, it surprised all of us.” 

“I knew the younger generation in Israel is tech savvy, smart, intelligent, agile, Startup Nation, all of that I knew, and we all knew that. Everyone, we thought they were soft,” he said. "We wrote them off as the Tik-Tok generation. And it turns out that under our noses, this younger generation is Israel’s finest generation.” 

Bennett shared about how the generation that fought in World War II came to be called the “Greatest Generation” due to the hardship they faced and the values that struggle instilled in them. 

“When they were fighting, it embedded them values of patriotism, love for their country, for the United States of America, love for freedom, working together, and humility,” he said. “Because when you’re fighting, it’s all about being together, hard work, ethics. These men came back in 1945, and they carried the great nation of the United States of America forward to the biggest growth in global history.” 

“It was all based on those ideals,” Bennett noted, “and now our younger generation is being forged in battle the same way.” 

Bennett also acknowledged that the military battle belongs to Israel.

"We're not asking America to send fighters or to fight wars, we'll do the job," he told the students. "But we do need America to have our back, we do need the support."

Acknowledging that Israel is also in a spiritual battle, Bennett asked the students to pray for Israel.

"Pray for us, that I know you are doing."

He also invited the students to come visit Israel and see the land of the Bible for themselves, after things "calm down."