The Knesset on Monday held a special session in celebration of Victory in Europe Day, which marks the formal unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in 1945.  

In 2017, the Knesset passed a law designating Victory in Europe Day as a national holiday.

During Monday's special sitting, which was held in the presence of Jewish World War Two veterans, Speaker of the Knesset MK Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (Likud) delivered the following speech:

“Friends, Members of the Knesset,

I am honored to open this sitting in honor of Victory in Europe Day marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, which we are commemorating pursuant to our obligation to express our gratitude for the historical events and to a special law enacted by the Twentieth Knesset.

On this day, 74 years ago, the Wehrmacht surrendered. The SS units were disbanded, the planes of the Luftwaffe were grounded. On this day, the smoking chimneys in the death camps went out.

But the victory we gather to mark is not only military victory. It is also—perhaps primarily—an ideological victory. It is the day of victory over the Nazi idea, over the Nazi ideology.

This ideology divided the world into masters and slaves, superior and inferior, predators and prey. This ideology marked us, members of the Jewish people, as its greatest enemies.

It put forth a dichotomy: Judaism on one hand and Nazism on the other. Because the Nazis could not tolerate the words of the Torah, which emphasize the obligation to care for the weak, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. The Nazis could not tolerate the morality of the prophets and the rule of justice that they anticipated. They despised the charitable and educational institutions and hated the Jewish honor for the elderly and needy. So they mobilized everything they had in order to exterminate all of these and in order to cover the entire world with a blanket of darkness and tyranny.

The Allied soldiers confronted this evil, with bravery and selflessness that are unparalleled in history. And they won. In cold that sometimes froze tank fuel—they won. In hunger that claimed many lives—they won. When the supply of ammunition nearly ran out—they won.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews also took part in these battles. Some of them—the veterans—are still with us, with decorations from the war adorning their chest. Today, on Victory in Europe Day, these decorations shine more brightly than ever.

But, my dear friends, we cannot allow this luster to blind our eyes. Because though the Nazis were destroyed, Nazism was not. The Nazi army may have been disbanded, but antisemitic ideologies have not died out. Like a ghost, they appear again and again, even during the past year. In France, Jews were attacked at demonstrations. In Belgium, puppets of Jews with long noses and moneybags featured at a Carnival celebration. In the United States, Jews were murdered in synagogues. In Iran, destruction of the State of Israel is still official policy.

The lesson is clear: There can be no rest from the fight against the malignant illness of antisemitism. So long as it exists—we will fight it; so long as it has supporters—we will hunt them, until the day of victory arrives.

Dear Friends, Members of the Knesset,

This year, 9 May fell on 5 Iyar. Victory in Europe Day coincided with Israel's Independence Day. To see these two occasions on a single calendar square was a uniquely exciting moment. Because 74 years after the end of World War II and 71 years after the declaration of Israel's independence, victory is clearer than ever.

Opposite the broken swastika, the Star of David stands proudly. Opposite the shattered nightmare of the Third Reich, the dream of the Jewish State thrives. And opposite the red-and-black Nazi flag, which has been folded up and buried for eternity, the blue-and-white flag flies at full staff—and it will remain there forever.

Happy Victory in Europe Day to us all. Thank you."