0:00:18.627,0:00:20.727
What is the parents' dream?

0:00:20.727,0:00:26.107
If I asked you to choose two words[br]describing the parents' dream,

0:00:27.003,0:00:30.833
I believe most of you would say,[br]"A healthy child."

0:00:31.499,0:00:37.319
When we, on our cell phone,[br]show pictures of a successful child,

0:00:38.044,0:00:39.312
as a matter of fact,

0:00:39.312,0:00:41.504
we speak about ourselves,

0:00:41.504,0:00:43.434
because who made him?

0:00:43.434,0:00:44.776
(Laughter)

0:00:44.776,0:00:48.066
It's the extension of our own ego.

0:00:49.546,0:00:53.042
Our second child was born in 1984.

0:00:53.532,0:00:57.768
We gave him the name of my brother[br]that was killed in the war,

0:00:57.768,0:01:03.128
and expected him to be better than us;[br]more successful, more talented.

0:01:03.296,0:01:04.696
A source of pride.

0:01:06.400,0:01:08.818
At the age of eight months,

0:01:08.818,0:01:10.990
he was diagnosed -

0:01:10.990,0:01:15.500
Didi, my wife and me[br]were told by the psychologist,

0:01:16.000,0:01:21.870
"Your son has a combination[br]of autism and retardation.

0:01:22.903,0:01:26.243
Probably he will never speak.

0:01:26.243,0:01:31.683
Probably he will mentally,[br]stay as a child forever."

0:01:33.597,0:01:35.796
That was a shock.

0:01:35.796,0:01:38.776
The sky fell on our head.

0:01:39.608,0:01:43.698
The parents' dream[br]became broken parents' dream.

0:01:44.228,0:01:50.248
How do we continue managing our life[br]if our son has no future at all?

0:01:51.724,0:01:55.754
This son, all his life,[br]has never said one word.

0:01:56.471,0:02:01.741
Never said, (Hebrew) "Abba," Dad;[br]never said, (Hebrew) "Eema," Mum;

0:02:02.355,0:02:04.315
never made eye contact.

0:02:05.413,0:02:09.093
He was the greatest professor of my life.

0:02:09.093,0:02:10.187
He told me...

0:02:10.187,0:02:13.797
(Applause)

0:02:17.734,0:02:21.781
He told me more than any other human being

0:02:21.781,0:02:27.821
about myself, about our society,[br]about children like him.

0:02:28.594,0:02:33.324
These children, unable to eat[br]by themselves,

0:02:33.324,0:02:35.596
unable to dress by themselves,

0:02:35.596,0:02:40.376
even unable to say,[br]"Please replace my diaper."

0:02:40.376,0:02:45.647
These children are punished[br]for two life sentence.

0:02:45.647,0:02:50.057
One: a broken body for all their life.

0:02:50.682,0:02:56.702
Second, one day, being taken[br]and put in an institution,

0:02:56.702,0:03:00.458
which is a life-long jail.

0:03:01.760,0:03:03.811
When he was born,

0:03:06.271,0:03:07.813
at that time,

0:03:07.813,0:03:13.903
I was special force unit commander,[br]33 years old, Lieutenant Colonel,

0:03:14.276,0:03:16.616
leading operations in Sudan

0:03:17.207,0:03:24.057
to bring Jews who were in life danger[br]from Ethiopia to the State of Israel,

0:03:24.057,0:03:27.083
the only Jewish state in the world.

0:03:27.083,0:03:30.328
Behind me were hundreds of battles:

0:03:30.328,0:03:36.298
all over the Middle East in Lebanon,[br]Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and more.

0:03:37.251,0:03:39.021
Behind me

0:03:39.021,0:03:41.854
was the very famous rescue operation[br]

0:03:41.854,0:03:45.114
in Entebbe, 1976,

0:03:45.114,0:03:51.024
rescuing 105 Israeli hostages[br]who were kept for one week,

0:03:51.393,0:03:54.553
one week of their life hostage.

0:03:54.553,0:03:56.513
I was the first on the ground

0:03:56.513,0:03:59.623
(Applause)

0:04:02.408,0:04:07.338
I was the first on the ground and the last[br]to leave the Entebbe airfield.

0:04:07.338,0:04:13.846
Behind me were the memories[br]of the Yom Kippur War, 1973.

0:04:15.201,0:04:19.381
In this war, I lost many of my friends.

0:04:20.415,0:04:25.275
In many moments, I thought[br]I won't see the next morning.

0:04:25.810,0:04:31.930
But above all, the memories[br]of the telephone conversation

0:04:31.930,0:04:35.508
with my mother at the end of that war.

0:04:36.408,0:04:39.836
My brother fought in the Golan Heights.

0:04:39.836,0:04:43.048
I fought in the south,[br]and I was afraid to ask,

0:04:43.048,0:04:46.992
then, I got the courage and she said,

0:04:46.992,0:04:51.792
"We lost Eran, we have no Eran anymore."

0:04:51.792,0:04:53.770
My brother was killed.

0:04:53.770,0:04:55.269
I came home,

0:04:55.269,0:05:00.043
continued to the Golan Heights[br]to investigate his last battle.

0:05:00.043,0:05:02.468
I found his burnt tank.

0:05:02.468,0:05:07.103
And shockingly, I learned to know[br]that he was shot by a Syrian tank,

0:05:07.103,0:05:13.443
thrown outside, bleeding, bleeding,[br]shouting for assistance for seven days.

0:05:15.311,0:05:18.070
He has evacuated, dead already.

0:05:19.480,0:05:23.635
I was rageous, frustrated, angry,

0:05:23.635,0:05:25.575
and I swore...

0:05:25.575,0:05:31.325
I swore to never ever leave[br]a wounded soldier behind .

0:05:31.325,0:05:33.905
(Applause)

0:05:39.298,0:05:41.678
11 years later,

0:05:42.008,0:05:45.958
Didi, my wife, and me are raising a child,

0:05:45.958,0:05:50.015
who is like the extension[br]of my bleeding brother.

0:05:50.893,0:05:54.729
And this child-like saying,

0:05:54.729,0:05:59.529
"My dear father, you know a lot[br]about special forces.

0:05:59.644,0:06:03.064
You know a lot [br]about highly motivated soldiers.

0:06:03.064,0:06:07.704
But my dear father,[br]you know zero about children like me.

0:06:08.433,0:06:11.302
About the shame,[br]the stigma, the stereotype.

0:06:11.302,0:06:14.316
Come over, my dear father,[br]give me your hand.

0:06:14.316,0:06:21.006
Let's go, let's move and see places[br]where children like me are hauled."

0:06:22.116,0:06:25.757
We moved from institute to institute.

0:06:25.757,0:06:29.777
We saw dirty, stinky, dark places.

0:06:30.991,0:06:35.611
Children like him[br]were ignored, abused, harassed.

0:06:36.270,0:06:38.001
We came home crying.

0:06:38.901,0:06:42.941
Then we started learning[br]about the shame.

0:06:43.641,0:06:46.531
For instance, Golda Meir,

0:06:47.410,0:06:52.021
our commander-in-chief[br]during the Yom Kippur in the 70s,

0:06:52.021,0:06:56.882
the one who sent me and my friends[br]to hunt down the terrorists

0:06:56.882,0:07:02.542
behind the Munich massacre[br]of 11 Israeli sportsmen, 1972.

0:07:02.542,0:07:07.624
Golda Meir was also[br]a grandmother to Meira,

0:07:08.134,0:07:11.037
a Down syndrome granddaughter.

0:07:11.504,0:07:16.334
And Meira told the Israeli public[br]after Golda passing,

0:07:16.870,0:07:20.230
"Golda never visited me;[br]Golda didn't love me;

0:07:20.230,0:07:23.995
Golda was fully ashamed in my presence."

0:07:23.995,0:07:27.535
Golda told my mum to never mention

0:07:27.535,0:07:32.475
the Prime Minister of Israel[br]having a retarded granddaughter.

0:07:33.055,0:07:39.657
Then, we heard more stories[br]of distinguished and ordinary people

0:07:39.657,0:07:45.727
hiding their children overseas[br]and in some institute in Israel.

0:07:49.174,0:07:54.504
Inside me, I continued hearing[br]the sound of my child,

0:07:54.732,0:07:57.632
"My dear father, wake up!

0:07:58.227,0:08:03.127
I'm the hostage in our society,[br]unable to do anything by my power.

0:08:03.370,0:08:05.612
Will you fight for me?

0:08:05.612,0:08:08.095
Will you change our society?

0:08:08.095,0:08:10.585
Will you give me hope?"

0:08:14.271,0:08:16.543
We decided to fight for him.

0:08:16.543,0:08:19.853
We decided to love him,[br]never to be ashamed.

0:08:21.616,0:08:26.308
For him, and [others] like him,[br]we built a village.

0:08:26.308,0:08:30.048
A wonderful place, a paradise.

0:08:30.852,0:08:35.035
No longer isolated in an institution,[br]

0:08:35.485,0:08:37.615
surrounded by walls of silence.

0:08:37.615,0:08:40.315
but rather social community center.

0:08:40.315,0:08:43.779
(Applause)

0:08:48.457,0:08:52.202
A paradise, Utopian society;

0:08:52.202,0:08:56.372
Christian, Muslims, and Jews,[br]working in full harmony

0:08:56.372,0:08:58.853
to serve children like our loved son,

0:08:58.853,0:09:00.341
(Applause)

0:09:01.881,0:09:03.491
to love them.

0:09:05.343,0:09:07.243
In this village,

0:09:07.243,0:09:11.863
we give them the best housing,[br]the best education, the best health care,

0:09:11.863,0:09:15.272
the best food, the best clothes,[br]the best social life,

0:09:15.272,0:09:19.627
culture, music, gardens, any need.

0:09:19.627,0:09:22.257
And in this village,

0:09:22.837,0:09:28.180
we created a new model of acceptance,[br]a new model of integration.

0:09:28.180,0:09:31.405
How come? By four elements.

0:09:31.405,0:09:33.179
Number one: rehabilitation.

0:09:33.179,0:09:34.904
Number two: education.

0:09:34.904,0:09:36.804
Number three: visits.

0:09:36.804,0:09:39.143
Number four: volunteers.

0:09:39.988,0:09:43.348
The rehabilitation model[br]is based on every day,

0:09:43.648,0:09:48.418
about 200 outpatients[br]from the outside community,

0:09:48.563,0:09:53.420
arriving to be treated together[br]with the most severely disabled children,

0:09:53.420,0:09:58.660
like our loved son,[br]metaphorically and physically.

0:09:58.660,0:10:04.223
It says that at the same swimming pool[br]you may find a soldier wounded in battle,

0:10:05.161,0:10:08.218
head of regional[br]municipality after stroke,

0:10:08.218,0:10:12.578
parliament member after a road accident,

0:10:12.578,0:10:17.658
Down syndrome, Bedouin girl,[br]and someone like our loved child.

0:10:17.658,0:10:21.666
We give them various kinds[br]of therapeutic treatment

0:10:21.666,0:10:26.535
like hydrotherapy, physiotherapy,[br]music therapy, horse riding,

0:10:26.535,0:10:31.785
animal therapy, vocational therapy,[br]anything, any therapy ever invented.

0:10:32.130,0:10:34.140
We have there.

0:10:34.140,0:10:37.650
The second element: education.

0:10:37.650,0:10:41.578
At the center[br]of the rehabilitation center,

0:10:41.578,0:10:47.958
we placed ordinary kindergarten[br]for ordinary kids from age one.

0:10:49.117,0:10:54.364
We teach children from age one[br]to accept those who are unable,

0:10:54.364,0:10:58.094
those who unprivileged,[br]the severely disabled.

0:10:58.094,0:11:02.410
We teach them[br]what is social responsibility

0:11:02.410,0:11:03.855
from age one.

0:11:03.855,0:11:06.405
(Applause)

0:11:12.547,0:11:15.787
The third element: visits.

0:11:16.642,0:11:23.357
Every day, about hundred people[br]are arriving to visit to see the wonder.

0:11:24.537,0:11:26.823
They are moved, they are excited.

0:11:26.823,0:11:29.397
People from the United States and Europe;

0:11:29.397,0:11:33.904
tourists, high-tech workers,[br]soldiers, veteran, parents.

0:11:34.464,0:11:36.625
People are arriving and saying,

0:11:36.625,0:11:42.025
"We got a propulsion.[br]We'll assist you to change our society.

0:11:42.649,0:11:45.029
We are your messengers."

0:11:46.586,0:11:49.688
Number four: volunteers.

0:11:50.798,0:11:53.768
We have more than 400 volunteers.

0:11:55.088,0:11:58.608
Some of them arriving from Germany,

0:11:59.388,0:12:02.513
and this young Christian from Berlin

0:12:02.513,0:12:08.663
saying, " We come for atonement[br]on the murder of the six million Jews

0:12:08.663,0:12:10.773
in the Second World War;

0:12:10.773,0:12:15.251
we come for atonement[br]on Hitler's decision to kill the disabled

0:12:15.251,0:12:17.891
when Second World War started.

0:12:18.861,0:12:20.268
They are saying,

0:12:20.268,0:12:23.678
"No more discrimination. No more racism.[br]

0:12:23.678,0:12:25.788
Human-being is human-being.

0:12:25.788,0:12:30.655
We all equal by our rights,[br]not equal by our power."

0:12:31.267,0:12:36.867
They are very well integrated[br]with about 100 Muslims workers,

0:12:36.867,0:12:41.599
Bedouin from the south,[br]with about 600 Jews,

0:12:42.579,0:12:47.230
to serve the severely disabled children.

0:12:48.070,0:12:52.470
They are saying,[br]"We are more given than giving.

0:12:53.540,0:12:56.014
We'll assist you to change the world.

0:12:56.014,0:13:00.054
We'll assist you[br]by being your ambassadors."

0:13:03.165,0:13:07.655
Tonight, exactly tonight, February 6.

0:13:08.747,0:13:15.247
We count ten years[br]for the passing of our loved child.

0:13:16.555,0:13:19.144
He's not anymore with us.

0:13:19.144,0:13:22.868
He was living for one[br]wonderful year in the village

0:13:22.868,0:13:26.362
that we built especially for him.

0:13:26.362,0:13:31.079
His spirit spread[br]to every corner of the village.

0:13:31.079,0:13:34.875
His spirit is here at my heart.

0:13:34.875,0:13:37.395
His spirit is the goodness in our world.

0:13:37.395,0:13:40.875
(Applause)

0:13:49.066,0:13:51.427
14 years ago,

0:13:51.427,0:13:56.127
I left the military as Major General[br]to build this village,

0:13:57.237,0:14:01.185
to be his mouthpiece;[br]to change our society;

0:14:01.185,0:14:07.205
for continued fighting for him,[br]and like him until my last day.

0:14:07.886,0:14:11.526
(Applause)

0:14:14.291,0:14:16.452
A year ago,

0:14:16.452,0:14:19.716
I was decorated by the highest award

0:14:19.716,0:14:23.246
the State of Israel can give to a citizen;

0:14:23.246,0:14:25.884
the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement

0:14:26.604,0:14:27.794
This prize...

0:14:27.794,0:14:30.714
(Applause)

0:14:30.900,0:14:34.702
This price should be given[br]to him, not to me.

0:14:34.702,0:14:36.880
I am only the messenger.

0:14:38.080,0:14:39.983
He changed me.

0:14:39.983,0:14:46.113
He made me a better human being;[br]more humble, less selfish, less arrogant.

0:14:46.113,0:14:50.054
If the number of children like him[br]

0:14:50.054,0:14:54.274
is only one per cent[br]of the worlds population,

0:14:54.274,0:14:58.054
this one per cent[br]can change the 99 per cent.

0:14:58.547,0:15:05.487
This one per cent can be the teacher[br]and educator the same as he was for me.

0:15:06.271,0:15:10.942
This one per cent can make the 99 per cent

0:15:10.942,0:15:14.992
more humble, less selfish, less arrogant.

0:15:16.102,0:15:19.872
(Applause)

0:15:23.457,0:15:29.637
The social chain is always[br]measured by its weakest link.

0:15:29.637,0:15:36.207
The more we do to strengthen this link,[br]the better and stronger society we are.

0:15:37.771,0:15:39.402
In the military,

0:15:39.402,0:15:44.212
we decorate people and soldiers[br]for bravery and courage.

0:15:44.693,0:15:46.083
In our social life,

0:15:46.083,0:15:49.656
it seems to me the highest decoration[br]

0:15:49.656,0:15:52.865
a person can be given by the disabled,

0:15:52.865,0:15:58.166
by the one per cent children like him[br]is the title: 'human being.'

0:15:58.166,0:15:59.616
Thank you.

0:15:59.616,0:16:03.396
(Applause)