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Our existence does not depend on the willingness of the Palestinians to make peace with us. Our existence is secured by our right to live in this land and our capacity to defend that right.
Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s Knesset Speech – Commemorating November 29
The UN resolution of November 29, 1947 recognizing a Jewish state was an important moment in the history of our nation, and an important moment in the history of all nations.
Since then, we have made peace with Egypt and Jordan, but the obstacle to widening the circle of peace remains what it has always been: the refusal of Israel’s enemies to recognize the Jewish State in any borders.
Our enemies do not want an Arab state next to Israel. They want an Arab state instead of Israel.
Time and again they were offered an Arab state next to Israel: first, in the partition plan of 1947; then, indirectly, in the Oslo accords; later, unequivocally, at Camp David in 2000; and finally, in the countless declarations since then by both Israeli and international leaders which have called for two states for two peoples.
And how did our enemies respond to these offers? Time and again they violently rejected them. In 1947, they launched terror attacks and then an all out war to annihilate the Jewish state. During the Oslo peace process, they terrorized Israel with suicide bombers; after Camp David, they orchestrated the Second Intifadah in which over 1,000 Israelis were murdered; since then they have fired thousands of Katushya rockets on the Galilee and thousands of Kassam rockets on the Western Negev in order, they say, “to liberate occupied Palestine” – in other words, “occupied” Haifa, “occupied” Acre, “occupied” Sderot and “occupied” Ashkelon.
In doing so, Hezbollah and Hamas are merely following the words of Jamal Husseini, a cousin of the Mufti and a member of the Arab High Committee, who said four days before the UN partition vote: “Palestine will be filled with blood and fire if the Jews receive even a part of it.”
Regrettably, even the more moderate Palestinians refuse to support making peace with Israel as a Jewish state. They support two states for one people: A Palestinian state cleansed of Jews, and a bi-national state that they hope to flood with Palestinians according to what they call the “right of return.”
Until they truly recognize and internalize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own and until their leaders show the courage of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan, it is doubtful that we will have a real partner for a genuine peace.
In this context, we can understand what happened – and what didn’t happen – with the adoption of the UN partition resolution in 1947.
The resolution did not fix for all time the contours of a final settlement between us and our neighbors. After all, the Arabs rejected the establishment of a Jewish state and sought to destroy it. The day after the vote the Mufti himself said, “what the UN wrote in black ink, we will write in red blood.”
Arab leaders cannot come today, 60 years later, and demand to turn back the clock as if nothing happened. They cannot demand that we accept an agreement that they themselves tore to shreds because, having failed to destroy Israel, they have now concluded that its provisions would spell Israel’s doom.
Ben Gurion understood this well when he said in one of the first meetings of the government of Israel:
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“The decisions of November 29 are dead. The borders of partition are dead. Jerusalem as an ‘international city’ is a mere fantasy.”
He repeated these ideas in his speech to the Knesset on December 12th, 1949 when he said that the UN decision was null and void.
Thus, neither the borders of partition nor the internationalization of Jerusalem are the enduring features of the UN vote.
What is enduring is the international recognition of the right of the Jewish people to their own state, a right anchored in the Balfour Declaration which recognized the right of the Jews to a national home in the Land of Israel and which was reaffirmed by both the San Remo conference in 1920 and by the League of Nations in 1922.
But the UN partition vote is seared in our memory because immediately following the vote Britain began to leave the country, opening the way to the fateful battle that almost snuffed out our existence.
The UN partition vote did not establish the state of Israel. It merely recognized the historic right of the Jewish people to return to their homeland and restore their sovereign existence.
But had it not been for the millennial longing of the Jewish people for the land of Israel, the continuous presence of Jews here across the centuries and the seventy years of intensive Jewish settlement in the land that preceded the UN vote, this historic right would never have been realized.
And even these would not have sufficed had not the sons of a tiny nation, in the wake of the horrific Holocaust, raised the sword of the Macabees and with incomparable heroism repelled an Arab onslaught that was about to overwhelm the fledgling state.
The enduring belief in our historic national rights, the settlement effort that realized those rights and the military struggle that defended them- these are what established the Jewish state.
The UN vote merely gave international recognition to this. Yet the UN vote was an important and historic decision, and it is right that we commemorate that vote today with the distinguished ambassadors of the nations that supported it.
But consider this: What would have happened to the UN decision if we would have been defeated in the War of Independence?
The key to Israel’s existence has always been rooted in strengthening Zionism and our ability to defend ourselves – and this remains the key to our existence and the key to forging a genuine peace with all our Arab neighbors. Only when some of them recognized Israel’s permanence and indestructibility did they reconcile themselves to making peace with us.
That is why I was shocked to hear in the press that the prime minister said:
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“If there will not be two states, Israel is finished.”
Mr. Prime Minister: The State of Israel will never be finished! Our fate will be determined by us, and us alone!
Our existence does not depend on the willingness of the Palestinians to make peace with us. Our existence is secured by our right to live in this land and our capacity to defend that right.
We built up our country for 31 years before the peace agreement with Egypt, we continued to build it for another 16 years before the peace agreement with Jordan, and I hope we will not wait long before we can achieve a peace agreement with the Palestinians and with others in the Arab world.
But we do not condition our existence on their agreement. That was the policy of all Israeli governments until now, and it must be the policy of all Israeli governments in the future. Let me repeat: Our fate will be determined by us and us alone!
In the Middle East, peace and security go hand-in-hand. In fact security, which stems from Israel’s strength, precedes peace and peace agreements. Whoever does not understand this will be left without security and without peace.
Only a strong Israel, confident in the justice of its cause and led by a strong leadership, will be able to achieve the lasting peace with our neighbors for which we all yearn.
Re: 11 and 12:
My dry wit is sometimes taken seriously by literalists. The problem with even (witless) wit is that there is something of truth to it.
Seriously, in spite of the probable long-term consequences to taking out Iran’s nuclear capability, I am in agreement that it should be done. The problem is that history does not stop at any particular event, at least so far. It just keeps piling on as time passes.
Ed D: It would also be refreshing to read less character assassination and more multi-step thinking. Think chess instead of American football.
For example, Barak and company are planning a limited response in Gaza. If it is “very” limited, it will merely bring about a cascade of tit-for-tat with much suffering. Barak knows this. In addition, he knows that he wants to maintain a Hamas rule in Gaza against Fatah as means of avoiding concessions that he keeps promising in the surrealistic negotiations that he has engaged in. Don’t you think so too?
Yamit:
You are kidding yourself if you believe Israel is completely sovereign in it ability to attack Gaza. It is still very much a puppet of America and E.U. Otherwise why is there a quartet guiding the Israeli-Pals negotiations?. Why is Israel still being held responsible for Gaza as is indicated by the numerous times the borders were unsealed? what about the recent tranfer of 100 mil shekels by Israel to Hamas after a request (order) by World bank.None of this can be explained except by frankly stating the fact that Israel is still very much subject to very powerful outside forces.We also know that with the new American presidency, Israel will have to contend with an increase in outside pressure.
To Jerry in #8. I am assuming that you are serious in your statement. If that is the case I am wondering if you were born an idiot or worked hard to become one?
Jerry:
I think you are confused the current Jewish Holiday is Chanukah and not Purim; Unless you are really serious and then my ans to you would be serious and to the point and you would not like to read what I could write about you then.
mikewise: great plan except it should be expanded to the original borders of the mandate and Balfour Declaration, why limit Israels borders only to the Jordan River? The little King will eventually be overthrown By Hamas or other Islamic radicals and then we will have an enemy with modern weapons and all the prerogatives of an enemy state directly on our eastern border probably with the help and support of the whole world. Without Israel the Little King would not last a year in Power. Democracy has no place in the middle east and I doubt seriously anyplace else as it allows multiculturalism, pluralism, nihilism and rule by the lowest common denominators of values national narratives and nationalism itself to be clouded and influenced by a majority of the self interested to subvert the collective and even the national interest. If By democracy you mean one man one vote, equality of all citizens under one common Law, then this in the end would eventually allow a large minority to dominate the Israeli and Jewish concepts of national particularism. All That supposes that the Arab minority would continue to be so. I don’t know of any sane Israeli who today believes that the Arab who have today Israli citizenship would ever cease to be recidivists and cease becoming what the Torah calls a thorn in our side if not an actual 5th column.
Other than allowing any Arabs to remain in any part of the Land of Israel and Republican Democracy as the system of governance I agree with everything else.
violence from gaza is encouraged by the perception that there will be another state west of the jordan river. it will never succeed. ending the delusion is the first step to stabilizing the entire area west of the jordan river.
the following was originally distributed on july 12, 2006!
The verdict is in. The experiment in Gaza has proven that Arab leadership has no interest in creating a peaceful society living alongside Israel in harmony and tolerance. Therefore, we hereby declare that the occupation and administration of the West Bank has been terminated.
The entire West Bank without exception is declared to be an integral part of the State of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority is hereby disbanded. All quasi-governmental agencies, militia groups and organizations and entities hostile to the Jewish State of Israel are ordered to be disbanded. All weapons are to be deposited with local police and military authorities.
Residents of the West Bank who accept the authority of Israel will be candidates for permanent residency and/or citizenship. Others will be removed to the Gaza Strip with appropriate financial consideration.
The Jewish State of Israel will be governed by local authorities elected in district elections over the next two years. The civil and religious rights of all peoples will be respected.
Arabs who have escaped from the West Bank into pre-1967 Israel will be welcome to return to their homes on the West Bank.
An era of prosperity, social reform and political stability will come after the removal of the current violent, corrupt leadership.
It is time for sane unilateral actions. Oslo, Camp David, Roadmap, Two-state solutions have failed. A permanent solution is required.
Further information and details can be found at http://www.onejewishstate.com
Michael Wise
Regarding an invasion of Gaza, Israel cannot afford another victory over the Arabs. It is too embarrassing to these hypersensitive Muslims (though loss of life is irrelevant) and it would take decades to assuage there hurt feelings and get them back to talking peace. Can you imagine what would happen if Israel succeeded in destroying Iran’s nuclear and arms production facilities! The Iranians would remember forever and a Jew would not be able to walk within ten feet of a Persian without wondering if he was going to survive the encounter for just that long – forever. That is why no attack has occurred until now. The Persians practice a religion of mourning and revenge. Until they give up their “beliefs,” no one is safe – not Jew, Christian, Sunni Muslim, or even a doubting Persian. Their motto is “Death to everyone, including me.”
to #6: “flush” is the perfect word.
For every firing of rockets out of Gaza, Israel needs to annex a one or two mile strip of northern Gaza, flushing whatever Gaza residents are there down south. This annexation has to be permanent, never open to negotiations. If the palestinians can’t control themselves, then they will eventually be flushed into Sinai.
Until Israel learns that it must TAKE land for every attack that is committed against it (such as in the last Lebanon War) the attacks will not stop. The arabs must pay a price for attacking Israel, which is currently not the case – and with the Lebanon War, the arabs even got a piece of land put back into play (Shebaa Farms), thanks to the morons at Kadima.
B”H
The same logic has been employed by alcoholics everywhere who insist that they are not drunks. The liquor companies, by their very existence, force them to drink.
And, of course, it is true that if alcohol just didn’t exist, they wouldn’t be alcoholics. (They might be drug addicts, or sex addicts, or something else, but they wouldn’t be alcoholics!)
The same is true of Hamas. If Israel just didn’t exist, they wouldn’t have to hate Israel and make war on Israel. (Instead, they would make war on someone else and hate someone else, but they wouldn’t make war on Israel!)
So, I guess Egypt is right to love us and Jordan is right to love us. If Israel wasn’t there, these hate-filled morons would be pounding the hell out of the outskirts of Cairo or Amman, right?
However, I don’t think, that Egypt or Jordan would put up with this for one minute. Israel needs to squash these lice in the scalp of humanity once and for all.
Michelle Nevada http://israeljewishnews.blogspot.com/
“The increasing stupidity of Israel is forcing us to intensify the rocket fire”
Michelle Nevada
B”H
The same logic has been employed by alcoholics everywhere who insist that they are not drunks. The liquor companies, by their very existence, force them to drink.
And, of course, it is true that if alcohol just didn’t exist, they wouldn’t be alcoholics. (They might be drug addicts, or sex addicts, or something else, but they wouldn’t be alcoholics!)
The same is true of Hamas. If Israel just didn’t exist, they wouldn’t have to hate Israel and make war on Israel. (Instead, they would make war on someone else and hate someone else, but they wouldn’t make war on Israel!)
So, I guess Egypt is right to love us and Jordan is right to love us. If Israel wasn’t there, these hate-filled morons would be pounding the hell out of the outskirts of Cairo or Amman, right?
However, I don’t think, that Egypt or Jordan would put up with this for one minute. Israel needs to squash these lice in the scalp of humanity once and for all.
M
Dec 24, 2008 17:26 | Updated Dec 24, 2008 18:33
Hamas: Israel forcing us to fire rockets
By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111685022&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Most Israelis have developed an aversion to Gaza even before the beginning of the state but that strip if left to it’s inhabitants mostly from Jaffa and center of Israel have an inborn hatred of Israel far stronger than most other Arabs I lived among them for over 10 years, and did most of my active and reserve duty in the Southern command including Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is historical Israel and the Arabs are occupying our Land so din Yehuda and Shomron din Gaza. Israel must work to depopulate the strip of Arabs, and take it back and resettle it with Jews. Since over 80% of population are neither native Gazans nor their decedents but so called refugees mostly from Tel Aviv area and center of Israel villages any place they are resettled or driven to is no difference as for most of them in alien Gaza that few of them view as a permanent home. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have given us enough casus belli to wipe the strip clean of Arabs,. The idea being that it should be quick min loss of life and permanent.
Ed is correct Charles we don’t want tit for tat situation where they control the tempo, timing and methods of the conflict. At the very least Israel must punish Hamas so severely that they begin to understand that to continue would mean their individual and collective eradication.
Ed, I defer to your military expertise but really, can you tell me when (outside of a short war), Israel has ever consistently and overwhelmingly blanketed enemy territory with projectiles? Life would be a much greater hell for the Arabs.
Besides, retaking Gaza will upset yamit and Ted’s strategy of maintaining Hamas in power indefinitely so as to frustrate international calls for a Palestinian state.
Charles, you are far off base in your comments. Return shelling is the same old tit for tat that has gone on for years. A democratic nation can not survive under those conditions. Look around at all of the nations in this world who have their security because they were willing to fight for it. War is war and there will be friendly casualties of Israelis; however, attrition would doom Israel into her demise in a number of years. I say that Israel should raise her banner and clobber Hamas into death or surrender, occupy Gaza, controling her security in the south and west.
I, also, believe that Israel should build defense plants in the Negev in order to create weapons that Israel has to beg for. Defense factories could also provide thousands of jobs and to bolster her economy.
The International community condemns Israel now, so let’s give them a bonified reason.
Israel has a hostile entity on its doorstep which will not surrender or be voted out of power. As has been stated many times, invading Gaza is easy, getting out is not. IDF troops would be subject to the dangers of door-to-door combat as they faced in Jenin and would have to re-occupy the strip following the operation.
Far better to elect the Indian Kashmir approach. India has been shelling militant positions in Kashmir for 20 years. Thousands have died and yet the world largely ignores the conflict because they are inured to it. Hamas wants a war of attrition; Israel should give it to them. Hand off all power and aid responsibilities to Egypt and let the shelling begin.
20 years from today, we shall see what remains of Palestinian “society”.
It remains a mystery to me as to why Israel has refused to defend its citizens against Hamas terrorists.
If Israel merely met them with equal force, missile for missile, the Pals would be running out the back door to Egypt. And that is what should be happening – the Arab states need to take responsibility for their own shameful lack of concern over the terrorism that they have created and promoted.
It is time that the seeds of violence the Arab states have sown come home to impact Egypt, Syria, Jordan and all other neighbors who sit smugly by while Israel is torn apart by bombs and the weight of international condemnation (Israel really deserves condemnation for doing nothing to defend themselves against the vicious terrorists not for the reasons that the world falsely accuses them).
The world will condemn Israel regardless of what they do or not do. The only important problem at this time is to stop terrorism and missile attacks. Ted has a good list that would make for an excellent strategy. Israel must listen and stop encouraging terrorism by ignoring it and then trying to get brownie points for sacrificing its people to terrorism.
A Brave Speech, But What Is Netanyahu Really Saying?
Benjamin Netanyahu in his inimitably articulate style has made a rousing speech about the need for Israel to be strong in the face of her enemies and strong enough to determine her own fate.
Is Netanyahu stating that Israel must be strong enough to impose her will upon her enemies and force them to recognize Israel’s right to exist?
Is he stating that Israel must be strong enough to withstand world pressures and most immediately the presssure of the Americans for Israel to formulate and act upon concessionary policies that serve American interests far more then Israel’s?
Netanyahu does not speak about Israel forcing her will upon her enemies to get them to modify their culture and attitudes regarding Jews and Israel, but rather getting them to accept that Israel is there to stay.
Netanyahu characterizes Anwar Sadat as being courageous in making peace with Israel. In one sense he was courageous in that his Arab neighbors at that time would rather die and let there nations die before they ever made peace with Israel. Secondly, by making the peace he did with Israel, he put his own life at risk, which life was later taken by the radical Muslim Brotherhood organization.
The Muslim Brotherhood today is a threat to Mubarak’s power and in spite of trying to cloke itself in moderate garb, is as radical today as it was from its inception.
Sadat however was a realist. The Yom Kippur war took a great toll on Egypt. Egypt’s economy was on the verge of collapse and was hardly able to sustain itself, let alone sustain an ongoing war with Israel.
Sadat in these circumstances made a realistic choice that his Arab neighbors refused to make. It was lead his nation in its ongoing war with Israel or save his own nation by recognizing Israel and making peace.
Sadat chose the latter and he died for that choice.
Sadat was courageous for his decision because he made that decision knowing he was winning the enmity of the Muslim Brotherhood and his Jew hating Arab neighbors.
By the same token, by eliminating or at least reducing his own Jew hatreds and he had those hatreds, he was able to transition from making insane decisions far too much directed by Jew hatred, to making reasonable decisions in spite of Jew hatred.
With antisemitism still being the daily norm in Egypt, be it in their media, mosques, educational systems and the like, the Israel-Egyptian Peace agreement has never been normalized and in effect has only brought about a cessation of direct hostilities by Egypt against Israel.
Egypt has facilitated the use by Islamic radicals to use Egyptian territory to maintain a flow of arms and munitions into Gaza.
As for Jordan, there too antisemitism is a daily problem not only for Jews and Israel, but for Jordan’s king for he knows such antisemitism is also part of a radical Islamic element in Jordan that he must somehow contain and constrain from seeking to marshall forces for a coup d’etat against him and his monarchy.
Given what is known of the influence of aspects of radical Islamic thought that is pervasive within much of the Arab Middle east, the only thing a strong Israel might be able to force is a hudna or truce or a taquiya, Arabic for a peace agreement that is intended to be only temporary and allow a time of quiet for the Jihadists to rebuild their strength so that they can choose the time that best suits them to break the peace accord and renew their efforts to destroy Israel.
Netanyahu is ignoring the fact that Israel can never have a true and enduring peace with her enemies including the Palestinians unless and until her enemies not only accept Israel’s right to exist as it chooses to exist in the region, but Israel’s enemies undergo a very major attitude, belief and cultural adjustment that makes their Jew hatred and goal for Israel’s destruction a thing of the past.
Bill Narvey – Cross Posted at Canadian Coalition for Democracies
To say that Israel is at peace with Egypt and Jordan is not entirely accurate.
How do you define peace? Is is the mere, obvious absence of confronting the foe with weapons?
What exists between Egypt and Jordan is a ‘hudna’ – a temporary cessation of obvious, active, open warfare.
Once again, please remember the treaty of Hudaybiyah that Muhammad forged with his native tribe in Mecca, the Banu Quryesh – circa 628 CE.
To bad Bibi’s actions and character do not match his words.
He is silver tongued but, unfortunately, has become a demagogue.
Remember the Wye Agreement (Hebron)?
Remember how he waffled and waited before Israelis were thrown out their homes in Gush Katif?
Bibi, in my opinion, remains part of the problem with Israeli leadership.
Jeff (sanderzack@yahoo.com)
BB is a smart guy educated and son of a world class revisionist (Irgun) historian (med evil Spanish Jewish History including Inquisition. So I would assume he knows his history, and knows how to write a good speech.
I know a bit about History also especially the part that I have lived through and some reminders about BB. Campaigned against Oslo in 96, 2 months before the elections leaked than later stated that He would accept Oslo and did after winning election. He talked a big talk against terrorism but did not Use the IDF to respond to myriad of attacks and provocations until he was about to leave office. He appointed terrible people to key positions and showed a Herodian clone of personal paranoia.
He met with Arafat several times even though he said he never would. Then called him a man he could work with and do business with! Shook his hand and called him a peace Partner! Botched ever program he initiated and everybody else’s.
Gave away Hebron against all warnings as to what would be the consequences. At Wye Plantation he bartered another 6% of the West Bank for nothing. Israel slid into a modest recession under his stewardship.
He let Shas and others bamboozle him at every political turn.
He could have had the PM office but Shas conned him in 202 and Sharon won in his stead by landslide; so was the public sentiment against Barak another Genius, was even worse, than BB.
Our founding fathers had one thing in common and that was they all had a vision for the State, its present and future, all viewed History as an important tool for the understanding and the advancement of Israel as a Jewish Nation and the whole of the Jewish people as an important and essential,if not vital adjunct to achieve their visions. None of them were interested in wealth accumulation and all saw their rolls as servants to the Zionist National cause.
When BB decided he had screwed up by not accepting leadership Of Likud in 202 elections he got back in over objections of Sharon and for a few months served as foreign minister then Sharon decided to really screw him and gave him Finance. BB had 2 choices take it or leve the Govt. He opted to take the politically suicidal post.
One would think that since BB is so Milton Friedmanist in his economic
beliefs that our economic elites would support him but in Israel this is not the case. They hate him as they believe he will not pursue the appeasement policies as the Lwft and these guys are cleaning up big time with PEACE PROCESSES> They and their Klypto Pali Partners are robbing donors Blind, and they all want to keep it that way.
BB in order to kiss ass to the right people screwed his core supporters and voted with Sharon for Gaza pullout and civilian Jewish Displacement. and Only Quit when he knew it could not effect the Pullout and was hoping to climb on anti disengagement bandwagon only when the Polls thought it a good time to do so.
So what did N-yahu do about making Israel independent of US “charities” ? Absolutely nothing.
The USA doesn’t need us anymore. They have Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other Arab abd Muslim countries. And YES, the Muslims already have a Bomb (about 30 to 40 of them.)The Indians moved their bomb parts around on ox-carts to fool US surveillance. I am sure the Pakistanis have moved their bombs and missiles into Iran in ‘dhows.’
The US needs the goodwill and money of Arabs. So it is the good old heave-ho for Israel. Religion? Are you kidding?
Funny how someone who speaks the plain truth is excoriated as a right wing extremist and a dangerous bigot, were I an Israeli he’d have my vote.