Sara Netanyahu: We invest in protecting our children, our enemy invests in terrorism

JERUSALEM POST – Sara Netanyahu laid the cornerstone of a new Children’s Center in honor of Daniel Tragerman in Kibbutz Nachal Oz on Wednesday.

Four year old Tragerman was the youngest casualty of Operation Protective Edge last summer. He was killed in a mortar attack on August 22 of last year while playing with his younger siblings.

“This ceremony is happy and said in anticipation of the anniversary of the late Daniel’s death, the very establishment of this children’s center will give [the children] a place to play and live with absolute protection,” said Netanyahu at the ceremony.

Netanyahu read the letter that her husband had sent the Tragerman family after their son’s death last summer, and spoke about the day of the event.

“You all probably remember that Friday, the rage and all the difficult feelings that are hard to describe. Daniel became a child of the whole Israeli nation, and your determination is admirable,” Netanyahu said to the Kibbutz members in attendance.

“Thanks to your bravery, it is possible for all of us to fulfill our right to live in this land. The inauguration of the center highlights the differences between us, who think about life, as opposed to them, the enemies who deal with a terrorist industry of death and destruction,” Netanyahu continued.

The center, at a cost of $100,000 will be protected from rockets and have bathrooms and a kitchen area, so children can stay in the center during sirens.

The new center is being built by Keren Hayesod – the United Israel Appeal as part of a larger effort to strengthen the Gaza periphery. At a cost of some $6m, the UIA is renovating 70 shelters and building 270 portable street-shelters, in addition to funding educational assistance, psychological assistance, and fun-days and camps for children in the area.

Netanyahu thanked Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg, World Chairman of UIA, for his involvement in the project. Netanyahu turned to Sandberg immediately following Tragerman’s death to collaborate on the project.

Sandberg also spoke at the event and thanked Eric and Sheila Samson, who donated the center and are involved in funding other UIA projects as well.

After the ceremony, Netanyahu and Sandberg went to visit the Tragerman family, who have since moved away from the kibbutz and did not attend the ceremony.

The children of the kibbutz were away on a field trip, but Netanyahu promised to return to the kibbutz to visit them for a story-time.