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Jerusalem, February 18, 2014…
Israeli Ministers Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tzipy Linvi, Minister of Justice and Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs, as well as Opposition Leader Yitzhak Herzog and Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat addressed leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in briefings today in Jerusalem. The group also attended a discussion at the Knesset with members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Foreign Minister Liberman issued a dramatic call for Israel to contribute one million dollars per day for Jewish education abroad and shared his vision that an additional 3.5 million Jews from the Diaspora move to Israel in the coming years in order to boost the population of Israel to more than 10 million.
Liberman stated that “Jewish continuity” was a more important issue than the Palestinian Israeli conflict and the threat of Iran for the future of the global Jewish community. He said current “demographic problems” and the significant rise in the numbers of Jews who do not think it is important to care about Israel the largest threat facing the Jewish people. He stated that the antidote to assimilation and lack of interest about Israel is affordable and quality Jewish education. He called on the Diaspora to match the $365 million that he is asking Israel to contribute to this cause and said this was only the “first stage” of a larger plan. “Education and aliya are the most important goals of Israel and the Diaspora,” according to the Minister.
Minister Steinitz focused his remarks on Iran as talks regarding a final, comprehensive agreement between the P5+1 started today in Vienna. He shared Israel’s hopes that the talks succeed on the condition it will be a “comprehensive, satisfactory, real solution that we will be able to trust. So we give diplomacy a chance and hope the talks will succeed.” The Minister continued “one thing must be crystal clear: at the end of the talks, Iran cannot remain a nuclear threshold state. It cannot have plutonium reactor or uranium enrichment facilities.”
The minister shared that “Iran already possesses significant enrichment capacity and knowledge in area of weaponization. It is a threshold nuclear state would be able to produce an operational nuclear weapon in less than a year.”
He suggested that a nuclear Iran or even as a nuclear threshold state would lead to an era of proliferation and encourages an accelerated Shiite-Sunni arms race across the Middle East. “If after a decade of violations of the NPT and of six UN Security Council resolutions, Iran is still able to enrich uranium. Why can’t Turkey or Saudi Arabia or others not have the same privilege, Minister Steinitz posited.
On the current peace talks Minister Steinitz related to a media story that was circulated in the Israeli press relating to the “right of return” and the possibility that Israel would agree to absorb a certain number of Palestinian refugees. He said that Israel rejects the “right of return on principle.” “We are against the right of return, not just because of the numbers. We are not ready to accept that the Palestinian state is for the Palestinians, and the Jewish states is ALSO for the Palestinians. This is not two states for two peoples.” He expressed concern that any Israeli recognition of the Palestinians right of return, even in principle, would prolong and not end the conflict.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat shared his vision of Jerusalem as “a home to all”. He said the city was a place that four billion people around world care about. The Mayor envisions rapid growth of tourism to Jerusalem with a goal of ten million visitors a year. “Arabs citizens of Jerusalem understand that dividing Jerusalem is bad strategically and economically,” he said.
On the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks the Mayor stated, “We all want peace but not at the expense of Jerusalem. I have never seen an example of a divided city that works.” “Practically, he continued, you can’t divide the city. There must be one law with equal rights for all. When you divide something you focus on the differences and lose the common denominator. It’s a wrong approach to the values and symbol of Jerusalem.”
MK Yitzhak Herzog the leader of the opposition in the Knesset, aims for the Labor party, as part of a center-left bloc, to lead the next Israeli government.
Regarding the current peace negotiations MK Herzog stated that he believes the pursuit of peace is “vital for preserving Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The Kerry mission deserves full support as it may be one of the last opportunities.” He said that if “parts of the Likud” move forward “there will is a clear unequivocal majority for peace in the Knesset.”
On Jerusalem, the Labor leader stated that “Jerusalem needs to remain a united city but there should be accommodations for a Palestinian capital.” He called on the international community to encourage Mahmoud Abbas to pursue a bilateral agreement and not unilateral declarations.
Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni underscored that relations between the Jewish community in the United States and Israel is one of strategic importance for the State.
The Minister said, “Those who do not accept Israel’s right to exist and engage in deligitimization pose a greater threat to Israel than extreme Islamists and jihadis.”
She acknowledged the role that the Jewish community has to play in righting these wrongs. But she also noted that “It is not enough to stick together because the world is against us. We need to make a distinction of what is true anti-Semitism… not every criticism of Israel is illegitimate and not ever critic of government policy is anti-Semitic.” She said however, “We need to understand those who criticize Israel and why.”
She said we need to choose between a greater Israel and an Israel that is a Jewish and democratic state. “The creation of a Palestinian state should be the answer to the national aspirations of the Palestinians, and should be the end of conflict between us.”
The Minister of Justice reiterated that Secretary of State Kerry’s initiative was “a game-changer” and that the Secretary of State understands Israel’s requirements in crafting a framework agreement.
The annual Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission includes heads of the Conference’s 50 member organizations and its National Leadership Council.
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