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Vice Prime Minister Yaalon’s address to the members of the evangelist community, Philadelphia, USAJune 2010Strategic SituationFor 62 years, Israel has been struggling for its existence. Yet for 62 years, while fighting wars and defending our citizens from endless terror, we absorbed millions of immigrants from every continent in the world, and managed miraculously to prosper and flourish. I want to emphasize this point right from the beginning because whenever we speak of the strategic challenges Israel faces people start being really gloomy and worried, so I have to remind you that the Jewish people in general and the state of Israel in particular have been in dire straits quite often but always managed to overcome. We did so thanks to our capability to come up with creative ideas and endless courage and commitment to our state and thanks to the support we get from so many supporters we have around the world - Jewish and Christians alike. That’s why I want to express right here my appreciation and gratitude to your unwavering support and affection.Today, once again, Israel faces a wide-ranging set of threats and challenges. These threats are often viewed through a micro-lens and we always focus our attention on the last event like the Turkish Moslem Brotherhood provocative flotilla; however, I believe that we need to look at the bigger picture.In essence, I see four principle strategic challenges, which are interwoven and interrelated:The first of these challenges is the growing strength of the radical Islamist camp that is determined to change the world order and put political Islam at the leading position. This camp is made of two groups. The first - led by Iran, includes its Shia proxy Hezbollah, as well as notorious Palestinian Sunni Islamist terror groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and it is intensively supported by Syria. This group regards the struggle against Israel as the main tool for promoting its strategic goals of gaining regional and global power. The members of this group are accumulating unprecedented capabilities to hit Israeli civilians with short, medium and long range rockets and missiles. There are already more than forty thousand rockets and missiles in the hands of Hezbollah alone - many of them provided by the Syrian destabilizing regime, and several thousand rockets in the hands of the Palestinian terror organizations in the Gaza strip. These rockets have longer ranges, heavier payloads and better accuracy compared with the rockets these terror organizations had in 2006 and 2008, when they last forced us to take decisive action against them in a way that deters them until now from putting our readiness to engage them again to a test. This radical Islamic group has also strengthen its regional influence, by gaining power in Iraq, Sudan and elsewhere, while defying the international community, so far with only limited repercussions. The decision of Turkey to come closer to this camp is a clear reflection of the growing strength of this radical camp as well as a manifestation of the political identity of the Turkish leadership. Anyhow, if Iran will succeed in obtaining the ability to become a military nuclear power, in spite of the free world efforts to stop her, this growth of the power of radical Islam will get a tremendous boost.The second group of radical Islam is made of Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their affiliates, who prefer to focus directly on the US and its presence in the Middle East. This group continues, despite the difficulties it is facing, to constitute a painful threat to the free world.The success of the radical camp is to a large extent a result of the asymmetry of modern warfare. While the free world has to adopt a strategy that leads to victory in the most comprehensive meaning of it, a very demanding and at times frustrating mission, that requires a whole of government approach and a lot of patience, the radical groups follow a “don’t lose” strategy that is much easier to succeed in. This success can be seen through the growing interest of the West to minimize its presence and influence in the Middle East, to engage the radical Islamists while avoiding even calling them by name, instead of confronting the radical Islam. With this in mind regional radical or radicalized powers like Iran and Turkey are already busy feeling the void that will be created as the West pulls out, taking advantage of the weakness of most Arab states.The Radical Islam strategic threat is clearly one that threatens the very core of our liberal existence and our common basic values; the basic rights of man, the rights of women, religious freedoms. This is an ideology that disregards the great mass of civil liberties we all take for granted.The second challenge is the ongoing efforts to de legitimize Israel and dehumanize the Israelis in the international arena in order to isolate Israel, weaken it and deprive it from the ability to defend itself. This is self-evident in the diplomatic world, certain elements of the media and the Academia, and endemic amongst NGOs who control the Human rights discourse and abuse it in order to bash Israel. The biased and flawed Goldstone Report as well as the reaction to the provocative flotilla are perfect examples of the double-standard Israel is held to. This assault on Israel’s legitimacy is moving from the margins of the political discourse to its center, thanks to an unholy alliance between radical Islam, radical Arab nationalists and radical and na?ve liberals in the western world. The rapid condemnation of Israel by international entities including European ministers, long before the real picture of what actually happened on the Mavi Marmara ship was clear to the Israeli authorities themselves, let alone to those who hurried to condemn us, gives all those who believe in justice and fairness a lot of food for thought. When there is a totally false and unbelievable attempt to draw a line that connects the fate of the black population in south Africa in the apartheid time with that of the Palestinians by people who are committed to Israel’s security and when this kind of people speak about the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza in spite of the fact that there is no shortage of consumer goods or medical needs in Gaza it reflects how successful the lies of the de legitimizers are in shaping the way important groups of people in the West think about Israel and the Middle East. The world talks about Israel’s right to self-defense, however, I pose the question: What is a right if one cannot exercise that right? As the former Chief of Staff of the IDF, I assure you, that the Israeli forces operate in strict accordance with a code of conduct whose values are based on the principle of sanctity of life. This code of conduct demands that our soldiers refrain from harming civilians, risking their own lives in the process. And all this while our enemies deliberately cower behind their own civilian population, using children as human shields, as well as converting mosques and schools into launch pads for their indiscriminate rockets that target civilians. Any military move we make to defend our citizens is being turned into a “war crime” and misconstrued in a concerted effort to undermine the very legitimacy of the State of Israel. This campaign is undermining the efforts of each and every freedom loving democracy in their battle against radical Islamic terrorism, whether it is in Gaza, Afghanistan or Iraq.This delegitimization campaign leads me to the third challenge, which is to a large extent based on some of the lies of the de legitimizers and this is the fact that the Palestinian export narrative has dominated the international approach to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. According to this narrative the conflict is about territory and therefore it can be easily solved. The only reason it is not solved is Israeli settlements and stubbornness. The Israelis should therefore be forced to make concessions and withdraw to more or less the ‘67 lines or else the ?two state solution’ will vanish. Since, according to this narrative, the Israeli Palestinian conflict is the core reason why the Moslems don’t like the West, the Israeli policy is the reason why the long awaited great reconciliation between East and West is postponed. As a matter of fact all of these elements are misconceptions and adopting them is precisely why we are stuck in a dead end.Let me briefly explain why these are misconceptions. First of all we have to realize that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is not the core for instability in the region. It is one of many conflicts in the region and not the dominating one. The dominating conflicts in the region today are: Islamic- Jihadism against the West; the Shia- Sunni conflict; the Persian- Arab conflict; the internal conflict between nationalists and Jihadists, or generally speaking, the conflict between Middle Easterns who believe that happiness is achievable in this world and those who preach for happiness in ?the next world’, to be achieved by martyrdom (?Istish’had’), and the killing of infidels (non- Moslems). The real core of instability is the Iranian regime whose ideology is turbulent in nature and cannot accept the idea of stability that it considers as a ploy to prevent it from changing dramatically the prevailing world order.Then there is a myth that the core of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is ?occupation’. In the West, the term usually means the territories Israel conquered in the Six-day War in 1967, but many Palestinians- from all the groups (Fatah, Hamas, PIJ, PFLP, DFLP, etc.)- and even some Israeli Arabs use ?occupation’ to refer to all Israel (”from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River”). They consider Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ashdod, Sderot, Beersheba or any other Israeli city, kibbutz or village as a settlement in occupied territory and to all the Israelis as colonialists. We should remind ourselves that the PLO was established and launched terror attacks against Israelis before 1967.Fatah and Hamas charters deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish independent state. This denial is demonstrated in Palestinian leaders’ rhetoric (to include Mahmoud Abbas), in the Palestinian educational curriculum, in their media, and of course, in the Palestinian strategy and policy. For example, in the preparations to Annapolis, the Palestinians refused to include in the declaration statement about “two states to two peoples”, they were ready only to say “two states”- meaning they do not recognize Jewish people’s right to an independent state, right affirmed again and again in the international arena. This refusal has not changed since then.I claim that if the solution is a territorial compromise within the land of Israel (west to the Jordan River), a final settlement would have been achieved long ago. But the Palestinian leaders, since the dawn of Zionism till now, rejected any partition plan proposal and reacted violently to any political initiative calling to this kind of settlement. (1937, 1947, 2000).So, the core of the conflict is not ?occupation’, but the refusal of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a nation state of the Jewish people.Professor Bernard Lewis put it right and articulately in his article published in the Wall Street Journal on November 26, 2007 (one day before Annapolis Conference): “‘What is the conflict about?’ There are basically two possibilities: that it is about the size of Israel, or about its existence. …If… the issue is the existence of Israel, then clearly it is insoluble by negotiation. There is no compromise position between existing and not existing, and no conceivable government of Israel is going to negotiate on whether that country should or should not exist.” I believe that we are a conceivable government.The next misconception is about economy. Many Westerns believe that the key is in economy. They believe, as the founders of ?Oslo’ believed, that prosperous economy can neutralize extreme nationalism and religious fanaticism, thus clearing the way toward peace and than toward a better security situation. I do agree that economy should be an important part of any strategy, but you cannot force the Palestinians to abandon their refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jewish people or to admit that the Jews have rights and were linked throughout history with the land of Israel just because they enjoy a better economy and wellbeing.Israel wants peace. Israel yearns for peace. And Israel has been willing to make concessions for peace. However, the real Palestinian narrative, the one used for domestic consumption, consists as you can see, of rejection of Israel’s right to live peacefully as the democratic and free nation-state of the Jewish people and of continuing the struggle against Israel in forms that change from time to time according to the circumstances. As long as there is no real focus, nor real pressure, on the Palestinians to end their incitement towards Israel and the Jews, their continuous glorification of terrorists and complete reluctance to educate their people for peace there is no reason to believe that a solution can be easily found.The fourth challenge involves our relations with the US. Israel and America share a history of close - and to use President Obama’s words - “unbreakable” ties. We have the same peace-loving ideals. We stand shoulder to shoulder against the tide of militant/ radical/ Jihadist Islam, and when it comes to the fight against radicalism, we share more than ideals.Cooperation in the intelligence and military spheres saves American lives as well as Israelis on a daily basis. Prime Minister Netanyahu often poignantly notes that radical Islam does not hate the West because of Israel. It hates Israel because of the West, because we are a democratic haven, a beacon of freedom, in a neighborhood which is not so open to such ideas! Therefore the fourth challenge is to maintain this close and special relationship, and to close the gaps that may have temporarily opened between us. This is crucial. Divided, we are weak, and our enemies will continue to take advantage of this. Only through unity can we defeat the forces of radical Islam, and only through unity can we succeed in empowering the moderate elements in Palestinian society, so crucial for obtaining peace.In the coming months we are going to see decisive moments in each of these areas. On the Palestinian track, the Palestinian Authority will try to use the proximity talks in order to spend the time until September portraying Israel as the obstacle to peace and then blame it for destroying the chances for peace in the future by resuming the construction in the settlements as the freeze period comes to an end. They will try to promote the idea of a forced solution in the frame of a Security Council resolution that will establish a Palestinian state along the ‘67 lines without them recognizing Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jewish people and taking the necessary steps to provide security and fight terror.In the context of the assault against Israel’s legitimacy we are going to see more attempts - in the form of more flotillas and in other forms - to provoke friction and deprive Israel from its right of self defense. The facts, as I mentioned, are that there is no humanitarian crisis and no shortage in consumer goods in Gaza, that our strict control over incoming products is caused by the extreme and violent nature of the inhumane Hamas regime that refuses to accept the quartet conditions for dialog, denies for four years any visits to our kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and threaten our civilians, that the naval blockade is legal and that the flotilla was led by radical Muslim elements eager to embarrass Israel through the deliberate sophisticated use of violence. But these facts don’t suffice for convincing the free world to understand the real nature of the recent event and to fully support the state of Israel, and under this background the de legitimization effort gains momentum.Regarding the radical camp - as the sanctions against Iran are implemented we shall know whether they will bear the wished for results or not. If not, and this is the much more probable scenario - we shall have to understand what does the international community mean by saying that “a military nuclear Iran is totally unacceptable”.What is our policy on these issues? As I said we want peace more than anybody else, since we are living right in the middle of that volatile area and serve as the target of much of the violence. But we realize that obtaining a lasting and stable peace, a real peace, is not easy. It has never been easy, and it never will be easy. We therefore understand that in this case, just as in many others, the longer way is the shorter one.From day one of this government Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that we have no interest in ruling over the Palestinians. It is in neither our national interest, nor theirs. In his Bar Ilan speech PM Netanyahu recognized the principles of two states for two peoples while calling for direct negotiations. Hundreds of road-blocks, check-points and barriers have been removed - not a small matter from a security/military perspective, I can assure you. This government also implemented an “unprecedented” - to use Secretary of State Clinton’s language - ten month settlement freeze in Judea and Samaria. What did we receive in return from the Palestinians? We received their standard and predictable answer. We received the answer which we have received so many times in our short history. The answer for 15 months was a categorical “no”, as they piled on preconditions that had never existed in 17 years of prior negotiations. In addition to this rejectionism, the incitement against Israel and Jews continued, terror is still glorified; and the Palestinian education system is still shocking in its content. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in his recent visit to Washington was trying to please a Jewish audience by saying that he admits that there was a presence of Jews in the Middle East in the ancient days as this presence is mentioned in the Koran, but he rapidly denied a press report by the Israeli daily, Haaretz, that he acknowledged that the Jews have a right in the land of Israel.The lesson we have to draw from this is that parallel to a ?top down’ process, that by itself cannot produce a real peace, we must build the peace from the ‘bottom up’. It is about time that the Palestinian Authority began educating for peace, building a culture of peace, ending the incitement once and for all, as well as establishing functioning institutions that will enable real governance and economic development and real sustained effort to fight terror against Israel. We see some progress in this direction but it is focused on domestic law and order. The time has come that instead of glorifying suicide bombers and educating children to hate, the Palestinian people will be educated and prepared for peace. The Palestinian entity that will border the Jewish state must be secure and flourishing. Likewise, Israel has the right to demand that its security concerns are met. Following the withdrawals from Southern Lebanon in 2000, and Gaza in 2005, instead of receiving peace for land, Israel received rockets; tens of thousands of them. We will not make the same mistake again. Any Palestinian entity must be demilitarized and accompanied by an Israeli military presence on its Eastern borders. Israel will not allow porous borders and the unfettered influx of military material into its Eastern neighbors. We have to confront in this context another myth and this is that the 242 resolution calls for Israeli withdrawal to the ‘67 lines. The truth is that the resolutions deliberately calls for withdrawal from territories and not from all the territories occupied in the Six Day War and this withdrawal should be to secured and recognized boundaries and not to the ‘67 lines that were unsecured and reflected a certain situation on the ground in the end of the independence war.Let me remind you in this context what our late Prime Minister Rabin said in his speech before the Knesset on October 5, 1995 (”Ratification of the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement”) - a month before he was assassinated - he stated: “We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4th of June 1967 line.” In the same speech Rabin also emphasized that Jerusalem would remain Israel’s united capital.Our government is committed to keep Jerusalem opened to all the religions united as the capital of the state of Israel.Our government is readopting the notion that Israel’s vital security requirements- defensible borders, a demilitarized Palestinian entity, control of a unified airspace over Judea and Samaria , electro magnetic security, and international security guarantees - is the only path to a viable and durable peace with our Palestinian neighbors. In fact, ensuring a security first approach is the only avenue to a real peace.The Palestinians must understand and internalize that just as we recognize the Palestinian national right to a nation state, so must they recognize ours. Any peace treaty must be accompanied by an end of claims by both sides. This means categorically renouncing the option of return for 1948 refugees into Israel, and recognizing the right of the Jewish people to live in peace and security in their nation-state. We are ready for peace. The question is: Are they?Anyhow, bearing in mind the rift between Fatah and Hamas and the de facto separation between Gaza and the territory controlled by the PA, we are ready to move forward on the peace process with Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, while we seek an arrangement that will complete our disengagement from Gaza with minimal security risks.While we continue to pursue our efforts for peace, Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime have deceived the international community, dragged their feet, and sold nations false hopes of a diplomatic compromise. By persistently defying the international community, Iran is mocking the West. For Ahmadinejad, this is the name of the game - demonstrating that the forces of radical Islam are stronger than the West, in order to make Iran the new hegemonic power in the region and a world power.Indeed it is the nuclear weapons program that has become the symbol of the regime, the symbol of radical Islamic defiance in the face of an international community that has finally awoken to this threat by adopting sanctions in the Security Council and on a bilateral basis.Iran accumulates 4 kilograms of low enriched Uranium everyday. It already has 17 kilograms of Uranium enriched to 20% and more than 2.5 tons of low enriched Uranium. Iran may be only a year to three years away from a nuclear bomb, according to secretary of defense Robert Gates. Time is of the essence in dealing with this danger.What are the implications of Iran that can acquire nuclear weapons? First and foremost, this is a very severe threat to Israel. Rafsanjani said that it would take one bomb to destroy the Zionist entity. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the genocidal destruction of our country: “to wipe Israel of the map of the Earth”. The question is: Would the free world allow a state that is calling for the destruction of another state to obtain nuclear weapons?This threat becomes even more pertinent when we remember the numerous Iranian shipments of arms to Hezbollah and Hamas and its meddling in the internal affairs of so many countries in the Middle East. It is unthinkable that Iran would be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, thereby gaining the potential to transfer ‘dirty bombs’ to its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, on our Northern and Southern borders or elsewhere to Europe or to the US.A powerful, nuclear Iran would extend its sphere of influence with relative ease across the Middle East. Any American hopes of attracting Syria, Lebanon and Turkey away from Iran would affectively be dead as Iran’s regional hegemony would prove magnetic. Likewise, the moderate states would probably try to improve their relations with Iran to avoid threats to their stability, and at the same time, with the realization of a nuclear Iran, the ensuing process of proliferation will become inevitable. Can the unstable regimes of the Middle East handle nuclear weapons? How will it be possible to stop nuclear weapons from falling into terrorists’ hands, when nuclear programs appear across the Middle East?Let’s be clear. The Iranian regime is looking for a new world order where radical Islam is the dominant force. Since a change from within in Iran seems to be remote, partially because of the free world cautious approach towards “the freedom movement”, We must stand united as strong, free democracies, in the face of this threat. The international community cannot afford to allow this despicable regime to obtain the ability to develop such weapons. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his regime must face the dilemma - the bomb or survival. This can be achieved through a combination of real isolation of the regime, painful crippling sanctions, moral support of the freedom movement and a credible military option. I’m quite convinced that when it faces this dilemma it is going to choose survival. To stand fast and hold onto this nuclear program would be unsustainable, isolating and potentially suicidal.There is a need for a clear strategy based on moral clarity.Jose Maria Aznar, the former PM of Spain, articulated in his article published recently in the Times. He stated: “What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defense of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.”PM Aznar went on saying that: “Israel is a fundamental part of the West and that the West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.”From an Israeli point of view, in spite of the magnitude of the challenges we face, I’m rather optimistic. I believe that Israel and the Jewish people, together with our allies, and primarily the United States, can stand up to these challenges. For that to happen we have to make the intensive dialog between Israel and the US deeper and based more on empathy on both sides. Both of them have to show more readiness to listen to the other and understand and respect the concerns and the logic of the other. There is room to believe that the coming meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu will send this message of closing the gaps.My confidence stems also from the inspiration I get from the people of my country and especially our soldiers. What this young democracy has accomplished in 62 years in the realms of security, science, medicine, agriculture, and the arts, is nothing short of a miracle.I gain my confidence also from the slow awakening of the free world to understanding the scope and the nature of the threats we all face. It is too slow, but it happens.And I gain my confidence from your spirit and your relentless support to Israel. Let me convey to you our message from Jerusalem, our eternal united capital. It’s not only thank you but it’s a message that says that we have a lot of work to do now as Israel is facing the assault on its legitimacy. We would like you to help us in this war. We would like you to fight on our side. Unlike the war against terror or the war against the armies of radical enemies, in this war between truth and lies you can be very effective warriors and we need you to show up and speak out in favor of the truth.We in Israel may be small but we are a great nation, as the Lord blessed Abram when he told him to leave his house and led him to the promised land of Israel and promised to bless those who will assist his people. We are right and our strength and resilience are based on our conviction that we are right. I’m convinced that our ideals, values and principles will prevail. I am certain that the free democratic regimes will overcome the challenge of tyrannical radical Islam. It is our freedoms, our liberties, and our democracies that strengthen us. It is our economic and academic freedoms that have given us the competitive edge; the creative energy to flourish. This is our faith that shows us the right way.Now more than ever, I believe that the free countries of the world must stand together. We have a just and worthy cause to defend. Israel may be on the front line, but the scope and global nature of the threat we face is becoming apparent to all. We must face these challenges, together.I would like to conclude with a prayer:”ה’ עוז לעמו ייתן ה’ יברך את עמו בשלום”.”The Lord will give strength onto his people; The Lord will bless his people with peace”.G-d bless you all!

6/2/2010
Statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu
“No Love Boat”

Transcription

Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment. I’m afraid this isn’t the first time.

Last year, Israel acted to stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets into Israel’s towns and cities. Hamas was firing on our civilians while hiding behind civilians. And Israel went to unprecedented lengths to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties. Yet it was Israel, and not Hamas, that was accused by the UN of war crimes.

Now regrettably, the same thing appears to be happening now.

But here are the facts. Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets, missiles and other weaponry - smuggling it into Gaza in order to fire on Israel’s cities. These missiles can reach Ashdod and Beer Sheva - these are major Israeli cities. And I regret to say that some of them can reach now Tel Aviv, and very soon, the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the information we have, the planned shipments include weapons that can reach farther, even farther and deeper into Israel.

Under international law, and under common sense and common decency, Israel has every right to interdict this weaponry and to inspect the ships that might be transporting them.

This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We have already interdicted vessels bound for Hezbollah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons. In one ship, the Francop, we found hundreds of tons of war materiel and weapons destined for Hezbollah. In another celebrated case, the Karine A, dozens of tons of weapons were destined for Hamas by Iran via a shipment to Gaza. Israel simply cannot permit the free flow of weapons and war materials to Hamas from the sea.

I will go further than that. Israel cannot permit Iran to establish a Mediterranean port a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and from Jerusalem. And I would go beyond that too. I say to the responsible leaders of all the nations: The international community cannot afford an Iranian port in the Mediterranean. Fifteen years ago I cautioned about an Iranian development that has come to pass - people now recognize that danger. Today I warn of this impending willingness to enable Iran to establish a naval port right next to Israel, right next to Europe. The same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow.

For this and for many other reasons, we have a right to inspect cargo heading into Gaza.

And here’s our policy. It’s very simple: Humanitarian and other goods can go in and weapons and war materiel cannot.
And we do let civilian goods into Gaza. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Each week, an average of ten thousand tons of goods enter Gaza. There’s no shortage of food. There’s no shortage of medicine. There’s no shortage of other goods.

On this occasion too, we made several offers - offers to deliver the goods on board the flotilla to Gaza after a security inspection. Egypt made similar offers. And these offers were rejected time and again.

So our naval personnel had no choice but to board these vessels. Now, on five of the vessels, our seamen were not met by any serious violence and as a result, there were no serious injuries aboard those ships. But on the largest ship, something very different happened.

Our naval personnel, just as they landed on the ship - you can see this in the videos - the first soldier - they were met with a vicious mob. They were stabbed, they were clubbed, they were fired upon. I talked to some of these soldiers. One was shot in the stomach, one was shot in the knee. They were going to be killed and they had to act in self-defense.

It is very clear to us that the attackers had prepared their violent action in advance. They were members of an extremist group that has supported international terrorist organizations and today support the terrorist organization called Hamas. They brought with them in advance knives, steel rods, other weapons. They chanted battle cries against the Jews. You can hear this on the tapes that have been released.

This was not a love boat. This was a hate boat. These weren’t pacifists. These weren’t peace activists. These were violent supporters of terrorism.

I think that the evidence that the lives of the Israeli seamen were in danger is crystal clear. If you’re a fair-minded observer and you look at those videos, you know this simple truth. But I regret to say that for many in the international community, no evidence is needed. Israel is guilty until proven guilty.

Once again, Israel is told that it has a right to defend itself but is condemned every time it exercises that right. Now you know that a right that you cannot exercise is meaningless. And you know that the way we exercise it - under these conditions of duress, under the rocketing of our cities, under the impending killing of our soldiers - you know that we exercise it in a way that is commensurate with any international standard. I have spoken to leading leaders of the world, and I say the same thing today to the international community: What would you do? How would you stop thousands of rockets that are destined to attack your cities, your civilians, your children? How would your soldiers behave under similar circumstances? I think in your hearts, you all know the truth.

Israel regrets the loss of life. But we will never apologize for defending ourselves. Israel has every right to prevent deadly weapons from entering into hostile territory. And Israeli soldiers have every right to defend their lives and their country.

This may sound like an impossible plea, or an impossible request, or an impossible demand, but I make it anyway: Israel should not be held to a double standard. The Jewish state has a right to defend itself just like any other state.

Thank you.

The Changing Nature of the Terror Threat against Israel
And How Should We Cope With It?

The terror threat against the free world in general and Israel in particular comes today mainly from 2 groups of radical Islamists who have a lot in common and occasionally cooperate with each other but at the time have many differences and sometimes even confront each other bitterly.

The Al-Qaeda group on the one hand and the Iran group on the other hand are both interested in changing the existing world order so that Islam and its values will have a dominant role in the new order. Both believe that terrorism is a legitimate and recommended way to promote this end and do not rule out the possibility of using unconventional weapons as a terror tool. Both regard Israel as illegal entity and are committed to its annihilation but consider the United States as the arch enemy that has to be defeated for their vision to come true.

But while Al-Qaeda and its affiliates and mutations focus their terror activities against western targets, especially Americans, and against the pragmatic pro-western regimes, the Iranian led group focuses its terror against Israel.

Although the Iranian led group is dominantly Shiite, it does include radical Sunnite groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad, because its focus is on Israel. Moreover, in areas where it is not in control or thrives to have control, such as Afghanistan or Yemen, Iran and its supporters do not oppose the activities of the Al-Qaeda group members, since they target their opponents, and support those elements which challenge Western interests. (Like the Shiite Hutties in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, etc.)

It turns out that while the US and the free world focus their counterterrorism efforts on Al-Qaeda, Israel confronts mainly the Iranian led group, which - unlike Al-Qaeda affiliates - enjoys the full support of two capable and dangerous state sponsors - Iran and Syria, who provide their proxies with capabilities that are far more then what was usually considered as common weapons of terror groups. Hezbollah, Hamas and PIJ are the arms of terror against Israel, the body is in Syria and the head is the Iranian regime. This is another reason why this non-conventional regime should not have non-conventional capabilities, namely, military nuclear capability. The Iranian regime might use the military nuclear capability as an “umbrella” to intensify his terror attacks and for producing “dirty bomb” for proxies.

While each one of us focuses on its area of operation, we have to remember that these are two complementary parts of the same effort to secure the free world from the dangerous and ruthless attempt of the Jihadists to change the world order. We have to be aware that in some of the cases, especially when it comes to the Iranian effort to acquire the potential to have military nuclear capability, we have to work together, with the support of the international community, to prevent this danger from materializing.

As a matter of fact, the Zionist movement has been a target of terrorism for a long time. This was the catalyst of its self defense buildup beginning with the establishment of “Hashomer”, in 1908, and thereafter the “Hagana” and the “Irgun”. The IDF, The Israeli security Agency “Shabak”, the “Mossad” and the Israeli Police also had to spend much of their efforts through the years on fighting terror, on top of defending Israel against conventional military threats.

Since 1973 the terror threat has become the major way of action of our opponents. Realizing that they cannot beat us in the conventional battlefield even if they enjoy full surprise, they were deterred from launching another conventional war. Whereas the Egyptians, and later the Jordanians, drew the lesson that they will be better off by signing peace agreements with us, the radical and turbulent elements in the Middle East decided to focus on terror, identifying the Israeli society as the weak link in the Israeli posture. They thought that because the Israeli society is becoming wealthier and more individualistic it is losing its willpower to sacrifice for a cause that is disputed among its members. Since the logic behind terrorism is not only to cause maximum damage and casualties to the civilian population of their adversary, but mainly break the willingness of the targeted society to fight, through weakening its stamina and delegitimizing its narrative, they believed they found a better way to reach their goals.

Obviously, terror is not a spontaneous act. It is a product of a political decision at the highest levels and a systematic indoctrination, and usually its implementation is made possible through well organized systems that enjoy the support of states sponsors like Iran and Syria. Such a system and such indoctrination enabled the terror against Israel reach new peaks.

The basic logic of terror has not changed much through the years, but the form of the terror against Israel has changed constantly. This was driven by four main sorts of reasons:

1. Political developments like the peace agreements, the Iranian revolution and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority following the “Oslo agreements”.
2. The readiness of Israel to allow changes in the situation on the ground, in a way that was perceived and presented as succumbing in front of terror, like the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and the disengagement from Gaza.
3. Israeli military successes such as the confrontation with the terror emanating since 2000 from areas controlled by the Palestinian authority in Judea and Samaria (”Defensive Shield Operation”) or the show of force in the Second Lebanon War and operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza.
4. A constant learning and adjustment of the terror organizations and their patrons to the changing environment in which they were functioning, including adaptation to the proliferation of ungoverned territories, new technological capabilities, new communication systems and new mass media opportunities.

Beginning in the eighties, following the Islamic revolution in Iran, the ousting of the Soviets from Afghanistan and the corrupt nature of the Palestinian Authority under Chairman Arafat, these changes were manifested in the shift of the center of gravity of the terror from nationalistically motivated groups to radical Jihad elements - both Shiites and Sunnis. This trend was accompanied by a considerable emphasis on homicide suicide bombing, driven by the distorted interpretation given by radical Islamic clerics to the idea of Istishhad (martyrdom).

In recent years, following the Israeli withdrawals and achievements, the characteristics of the terror threat Israel faces continued to change significantly. The main features of this threat today are:

1. The terror organizations are going through a process of institutionalization. Each one of the main terror groups is becoming more deeply involved with running a state like system and taking upon itself police like missions in the areas under its control. Moreover they run military like organizations on top of their terror arms.

2. The direct daily friction between the terror organizations that preach for using terror and Israeli targets is minimal or totally absent.

3. The involvement of the patrons of the terror organizations, mainly Iran and Syria, in supporting them with weapons, training, money, intelligence and political assistance has grown considerably.

4. The terror organizations were clearly deterred from launching a new terror campaign against Israel after “Defensive Shield Operation”, the Second Lebanon War and operation “Cast Lead”. They focus therefore on acquiring more weapons and preparing themselves for another round. They do this while taking advantage of the insufficient interference of regional and international elements that are supposed to prevent that from happening.

5. Due to all of the above their main weapon has become the longer range rockets and missiles that are supposed to reach population centers in the heart of Israel instead of the suicide bomber.

In countering these terrorist threats, we must answer two questions. First, “Is it possible to reach a decisive conclusion to terror?” To this, I answer affirmatively: Yes, it is possible to reach a decisive conclusion to the threat of terrorism. We must therefore ask, second, “How do we achieve this conclusion? What should we do to address the new features of the threat?”

On the policy and strategy level, we have to realize that:

1. Capitulation to terror only begets more terror. This is a well known lesson we have learned from our withdrawals. Under no circumstances should we surrender to terror.

2. We should insist on full and irreversible giving up of the terror option as a condition for progress towards peace. Such irreversible attitude requires a bottom up approach, namely changing the education messages to support peace and refraining from incitement to violence and hatred, fighting against terror, building reliable institutions, preserving law and order and developing an uncorrupt economy. Without these changes any agreement is just a temporary ceasefire, or Hudna, used by the terror groups to rearm. We should encourage those who are ready to embark on this process and fight those who refuse to, but we shouldn’t be misled by superficial moves and make sure that this attitude is for real. This of course is besides our expectations from a peace agreement that include among other things recognition in Israel right to enjoy peace within secure, recognized and defensible borders as the nation state of the Jewish people and demilitarizing the Palestinian state.

3. Deterrence against terror organizations has to be maintained. We should make it clear that we can and will respond very strongly to any attempt to harm us through the use of terror. We have to adhere to the notion that the best defense is a good offense.

4. An effort to prevent the arming of the terror groups with better weapons and to develop ways and means to protect the Israeli population from these weapons.
5. Strengthening the social solidarity, the national resilience and the public confidence in the justice of our cause. When terrorists cause physical and psychological damage to the civilian population, public resolve is almost as important as having military superiority. To promote such resilience we as the leadership have to convince the public that terror can be overcome and that it should be fought until it is defeated, even if success will take time and sacrifice, and an education system that builds the national resolve, asserts the national narrative and promotes a national vision.

6. Maintain the moral high ground and fight for legitimacy. We have to continue to make sure that our counterterrorist operations are designed to keep the civilians on both sides as far from the conflict as humanly possible. As long as we do so we should not be affected by baseless, biased and intentionally anti Israeli papers like the Goldstone committee report.

I’d like to elaborate on this issue:
The Goldstone Report is the most evident example of the new blood libels, whose purpose is to deprive Israel from the ability to defend itself on the military, the legal and the diplomatic arenas.
As the former Chief of the General Staff of the IDF I can assure you that the Israeli armed forces code of conduct and its values are based on the principle of sanctity of life and require our soldiers to refrain from harming civilians as much as possible, even during fierce fighting. Our enemies, the terror organizations, take advantage of that, and while they launch their rockets and carry out terror attacks deliberately in order to murder our civilians they hide behind their civil population, whom they use as “human shields”.
The state of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, that 65 years ago lost 6 million of its members in the extermination camps of Auschwitz, Maidanek and the rest needs no lectures about morality and the importance of life sanctity. We don’t have the option of losing the moral high ground. Those who feed baseless accusations against us don’t know anything about us, and don’t understand what enabled the Jewish people to survive for more than 3,000 years.
Yet we have to wage this legitimacy campaign not only to defend ourselves but to defend the rest of the Free World against the attempt of Jihadi Islam to change the world order, by turning any military move against them into a war crime.
Anyhow - in spite of these attempts - Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself. We just do not have any other choice.

7. Constant reassessment and learning of the developing situation, in order to keep being relevant to the changing and new challenges, prepare for new threats and identify opportunities. The only constant in counter-terrorism is the change.

8. Maximize the cooperation with our partners in this confrontation in the international and regional arenas as well as with moderate elements within the Palestinian society. In spite of the disagreements we may have with some of these partners we shouldn’t forget that we have more in common and through dialog we can explain our point of view, listen to theirs and wherever we can work together we should. For example, these partners can play a significant role in the bottom up process.
On the operational level, we should focus on:

1. Operational creativity and flexibility. Terrorists are ephemeral targets who operate from within civilian environment. Therefore they pose a special challenge. The fact that they use modern arms makes the ability to reach them even more complicated and demanding. The element of surprise and the capability to adapt quickly and be on time at the right location require continuous creativity, especially in urban areas, which means also taking calculated risks when necessary.

2. Intelligence dominance is the key for success in the fight against terror. It is necessary for providing early warning to foil terror attacks, for supplying the accurate information needed for offensive operations and for understanding the way the terror organizations change their modus operandi and learn.
3. Information dominance - namely improving the ability to convey real time intelligence and other information to the front lines. To meet this need we have to develop state of the art C4I systems and full cooperation between the different organizations involved in the war against terror.

4. Improving the defensive measures. Although the best defense is a good offense, we should not ignore the importance of defensive counterterrorist measures. But since they normally require massive resources outlays the availability of military and economic resources must be considered, as well as the political and humanitarian impact of some of these measures, like the checkpoints and the fence. But we should not forget the order: First of all, offence, than fence and defense.

5. This emphasizes the need even on the operational level to strike the proper balance between achieving security and “winning the hearts and minds” of the target audiences in this conflict.

6. Safeguarding the morality in war is crucial for both and must remain a supreme value of the Israeli defense and security organizations.
If we stick to these principles we can win the complicated and demanding war against terror and defeat the terrorists.

Terror can and should be defeated for the sake of the Free World.

22/02/2010

Transcription
PM Netanyahu’s Speech at the Jewish Agency

Thank you. Each of us is forced to decide if we take a stand on things that matter in our lives and matter to the lives of those we hold dear. And Natan Sharansky took one of the greatest personal stands in the post-war period and the day you stood up in a Soviet court, tore up your indictment and said ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ was a testament, not only to your character, but what you represent in the modern history of our people. And I’ve found it a personal privilege to have had the opportunity to take part in the broad efforts to get Natan out of that large jail, to bring him home and to have an enduring partnership and friendship since. And I also appreciate the fact that you were kind enough to give me a draw in a game of chess that we played. I know you were kind because to others you are unforgiving so I appreciate that very much. I’ve never played with him since and I don’t intend to.

But we do move on the larger chessboards of the nations. And we have to recognize what it is that we need to succeed and to assure the Jewish future. There is a palpable challenge to our future from two main directions. The first one is the loss of identity - the loss of identity through assimilation or through intermarriage or through both is the greatest toll-taker of Jewish numbers in the last half-century. Before that, we had the greatest catastrophe in our history. We lost a third of our people to murderous violence and I think it’s telling to go and visit, as we did, Auschwitz-Birkenau, to stand there in the terrible ice and to understand that those who didn’t burn, froze, and those who didn’t freeze, burnt. That was the condition of our people only 65 years ago as we escaped from a great cauldron, from a great catastrophe and built our life here.

But we see since then that there has been a palpable, if not reduction in Jewish numbers, the absence of growth that would normally have normally accompanied a half-century and more - 65 years - would enable, certainly if not the doubling, if not the tripling, then certainly more than the doubling of our numbers. And yet we were some 12 or 13 million after the Holocaust and those are our numbers today. There’s been no growth at all in most of the Jewish Diaspora. There’s been significant decline in many of the communities and certainly none of the extrapolation that one would have had for the normal development of a population. These have not taken place in the Diaspora. It has taken place only in one place, here in Israel.

And as a result, Israel today has the largest Jewish community in the world. We’re fast approaching six million souls and we’re fast approaching a point where the majority of the Jews will live in the land of Israel. That has not happened since the days of the Second Temple. That is, in one sense, good news and it will happen very shortly, but in another sense, it reflects not merely the growth and the development of Israel - the absorption of millions of immigrants from all over the world including over a million from the Former Soviet Union - and the naturally high growth rate of the Israeli population - very high - I think it’s the highest or among the highest in the developed countries, in developed economies - and that is a reflection of an inner - by the way - secular and religious alike - religious more, secular very high, very high, compared to say our counterparts in Western Europe - very, very high. And there is a natural life force in the Jewish people in response, I think, to the Holocaust - an enduring, lingering response to the Holocaust and to the wars of Israel and to our natural impetus to ensure that the Jewish people survive beyond the personal calculation and consideration that every family makes. So that is the good side and the robust nature of the Israeli economy, the development of the Israeli state, the Israeli society, the Israeli economy, Israeli technology - the capacity not merely to increase our numbers but to increase our productivity well beyond our numbers - to increase our economy, our GDP per capita well beyond the growth rate of our numbers - this is all good news.

The bad news is that we have steadily eroded as a people. The commitment of our young people - the Jewish people - have frayed at the edges, but there was a concomitant development which I think was important, and that is a concentration - a consolidation at the vibrant center including the Diaspora that says we should reverse this. And the most important thing which has happened in the last decade has been the conscious effort of the Diaspora first, and then Israel second, joining it pretty early on, to try to reverse the forces of the loss of identity through such programs as Masa and Taglit and the fostering of Jewish education, the study of Hebrew. These are conscious efforts to arrest the tide of loss of identity and we should continue them - we should increase them. We - I mean as a partnership between the Jewish people outside of Israel and the Jewish State of Israel, between the Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel and any other organization that seeks to support this important effort. We’re committed to this.

I was the first Prime Minister who actually gave money from the Israeli official budget to foster Jewish education abroad and to help Taglit. I thought it was a tremendous development which has since been augmented. But we are committed to do this and as our economy grows, we will add more resources for this common effort - stopping the loss of identity, strengthening the identity in the Diaspora, especially with young Jews - getting them to come to Israel, getting them to know Israel, getting them to consider staying in Israel or becoming ambassadors in their own communities and on their campuses fighting the vilification of Israel and also cementing their own commitment to it is a vital component for the Jewish future. And I assure you, Natan, that we will work together on this because we deeply believe it and ultimately we act on our beliefs.

Now there is one other component of this. As we strengthen - seek to strengthen - Jewish identity in the Diaspora, we must strengthen Jewish identity here in Israel. For one, we’re in a global economy, we’re in a global information economy and there is a widespread dissemination of a global culture - it’s not always very deep, it’s not always very inspiring but it is sweeping - it catches our young people, it gets them to deal and immerse themselves in matters or cultural matters that is not necessarily connected to their individual roots. This happens to their individual national roots or particular national roots. This problem challenges many, many nations and especially the smaller nations. The smaller peoples are facing this challenge of being effectively culturally swamped. And we know that without strong identification, without strong roots - we cannot create the motivations, the energies, the commitment to continue to build the State of Israel so this is not a minor effort. We also know that people are mobile and the more gifted, the more able and the more talented the people, the more their capacities and their skills are worthwhile and worthy on the universal market - they can just move. It’s a global marketplace. And therefore what will keep people here and what will keep our best young people here? What will keep them here is a strong commitment to ensuring their own personal fortunes here, their own personal lives here but also to ensure to deepen their commitment to the Jewish state in the Jewish land. And this requires a directed and purposeful effort.

This was the nature of our effort yesterday - we went to Tel Hai the place where Joseph Trumpledor fell some 90 years ago to secure the Upper Galilee, and we started a program for roughly 150 projects which are both from antiquity, archaeological projects from Biblical and post-Biblical periods but also the restoration of sites of modern Zionism, and in so doing also correct the distortions of history. We’re just presenting the facts. We need not color the facts, we need not prove the facts - we just have to explain the facts - the actual facts of the growth of Zionism, the return of the Jews, the origins of the attacks against us, the defense, the value of defense that people gave up - pulp history warts and all. And there are some warts. Put it up front because I don’t think that any people, any other people, can be as proud of our ancient and modern history as the Jewish people. And this pride is part of our identity - it’s part of the thing that connects us to this land and to each other. It deepens our roots in our country and it also connects, I believe, Jews around the world to the Jewish state and to the Jewish land. We’re going to do this in a variety of ways obviously suited for the 21st century and for the new means of communication. But at the end of the day, the greatest experience that we can have is to have young people in Israel, young Jews from abroad come here and actually walk this land - walk it, sense it, feel it, study about it, learn it directly - we say in the army - through the boots - through the boots but also through your eyes, through your brain and through your heart to learn about our heritage and to make that heritage part of the foundation of our future. And I think this is what our real challenge is - to be firmly grounded in our history and yet be open to the world - to the changes that take place and to our remarkable success in finding a unique capacity to continue projecting the Jewish genius in the modern world as we are cognizant and as we cherish the Jewish genius from antiquity to today.

This is what our Heritage Program is about and I would like to consider ways to coordinate this program which was by the way a considerable expenditure - I’ve always found that people take you seriously only if you spend money. Well, we’re spending money on this but I think that we should spend some time, and I plan to do this in whatever form we designate, to see how we can tighten this Moreshet Program - Tochnit Moreshet - which is our heritage program with the Jewish Agency and with the Jewish communities around the world. I think this is not merely an exercise in education. I think it’s an exercise in survival because I think this is a key part of the history and the mystery of the Jews. It’s because we wanted to come back. It’s because we broke the laws of history. It’s because we said while we were strewn to the four corners of the world absolutely powerless, absolutely defenseless - we said - ‘We will come back - next year in Jerusalem’.

It’s because, Natan, you said it in a court against one of the greatest totalitarian, perhaps the greatest totalitarian system in the world. It’s because young Ethiopians who walked from Ethiopia - many of them losing their brothers and sisters - they said ‘Next Year in Jerusalem’. It’s because the last people in the Warsaw Ghetto standing up against impossible odds said ‘Next Year in Jerusalem’. And some of them died saying it, and some of them escaped and are here. It’s because this happened not only in the Warsaw Ghetto, it happened in the Ghetto of Toledo hundreds of years before that. This is a great power. But now we’re in Jerusalem and we have to teach the Children of Zion about Zion and about the Land of Israel - the Children of Israel about the Land of Israel and about the People of Israel, about our connection and our unique commitment to our past and to our future in this land and to each other. This is not a small matter but we are not short of big matters that affect us.

You mentioned one of them that I’ve been involved with for just a little under twenty years which is the great challenge that is facing the world because of the rise of militant Islam and its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. I mean, if I had to put in a nutshell the greatest threat that faces humanity - it is that a militant Islamic regime will meet up with nuclear weapons or that nuclear weapons will meet up with a militant Islamic regime. The first is a danger now focused in Iran and the second is a concern that many people have about a Taliban takeover of Pakistan. I think that both are eminently preventable but things are not prevented by themselves, they depend on actions and the most important action vis-à-vis Iran is action that the international community can take and must take in time. This regime depends virtually entirely on energy. Its budgets depend on energy - on the exportation of oil and natural gas. The first and most powerful sanction - biting sanctions - is to prevent the export of oil from Iran. Right alongside it is to prevent the import of oil or specifically refined petroleum which means gasoline into Iran. These are sanctions with teeth. Other sanctions are now being discussed by the international community but without these sanctions, I think they will not have the impact to actually make a dent in this regime and force it to consider whether to continue its brazen pursuit of a nuclear weapons program.

If one is talking about what are effective sanctions - what are crippling sanctions - what are sanctions that can actually work - they must include, they must include the constriction of the export of oil from Iran and the import of refined oil into Iran. I think that nothing else stands a real chance to stop the progress of the regime but this has a chance - at least it must be tried and must be tried now. There has been a slow lag of understanding of things that we have been talking about for years. At first, there was a question whether Iran is - whether this regime is as tyrannical as it is. People said that it’s a populous regime - it may have a theological bent but it is a popular regime that seeks to better the lives of Iran’s people. Well, they no longer think that. I think the regime has been exposed by the clear sunlight that fell on those sidewalks where young Iranians were bleeding, choking on their blood, being gunned down by these goons. People now know the truth about the nature of the regime. And a regime that tyrannizes its own people will tyrannize its neighbors very soon. In fact, that’s already happening.

The second thing that people said is does Iran have a nuclear program? There was some debate about that. Well, that’s pretty much evaporated as Iran’s secret nuclear facility has been exposed and other facts came to light. So now we know that this is a tyrannical regime that is developing atomic bombs.

The third thing that we know is that they threatened to use those bombs against us and possibly as weapons of terror against anyone else they choose. This is a formidable combination. When you have no inhibition and you have far-reaching ideological, theological ambitions - the combination of a militant Islamic regime that has the weapons of mass death and could use atomic weapons, not merely to threaten directly but also to use it as weapons of nuclear terror could be a pivot of history. That too is understood in most of the capitals and by most of the leaders that I’ve spoken to in recent months and over the years and there is a crystallization of an understanding.

And now comes another question that caused a lot of arguments and disagreements. How long will it take for them to develop a weapon? That too, as Iran is advancing and as it is demonstrably accruing low, enriched uranium which is one step short of a process called high enrichment which they’ve just begun. That too begins to fade as an issue of discord because people understand it will happen a lot sooner than people think. So now the leading countries in the world and the leading leaders of the world today understand that Iran is a brutal tyranny, that it has a nuclear weapons program, that it is using its power to tyrannize its own people and its neighbors and that it is fast approaching a nuclear weapons capacity. Well what is it going to do when you have the understanding? There’s a difference between not knowing and knowing. Then there’s a difference between knowing and understanding. And then there’s a difference between understanding and having the international community actually act on that understanding.

We’re at that fate point. We’re at the point where the international community has to decide whether it is serious about stopping Iran. If it is serious about stopping Iran, then what it needs to do is not water-down sanctions, moderate sanctions, sanctions that will only enable people to put a ‘V’ around the rubric box of sanctions, but effective , biting sanctions that curtail the import and export of oil into and out of Iran. This is what is required now. It may not do the job but nothing else will. And at least we will have known that it’s been tried. And if this cannot pass in the Security Council, then it should be done outside the Security Council but immediately. I never fail to quote Hillel the Elder who said several thousand years ago some pretty smart things. They were short and succinct and to the point. And one of the things that he said was: ‘If not now, when?’ If not now, when is the international community going to impose biting sanctions on Iran? A year from now? Two years from now? Three years from now when it’s all pointless? If not now, when and the answer is right now! That is what is required: Crippling sanctions that affect Iran’s import and export of oil now.

I’ve just come back from Russia where I had a very successful trip. I thought of you, Natan, and I know that you’re working to strengthen the ties between the Jewish people and the Jewish Agency in Russia and although this didn’t take place this year - the meeting that you had planned - I have reason to believe that it will be possible in the near future.

But I thought of the transformation of our world. I thought of the great odyssey that we have made and the fact that over a million of our fellow Jews from Russia are now in Israel in key places. I said to Prime Minister Putin and before that to President Medvedev: ‘You know. I’ve brought with me my own Minister, Yuli Edelstein, as a translator; they told me he speaks good Russian. So I had Yuli Edelstein on one side and I had Ze’ev Elkin who’s the coalition chief and the head of the Likud faction in the Knesset on the other side. Eugene Kandel who’s the son of a famous dissident who’s the head of our Council of Economic Advisors - he was in that delegation too. And I mentioned you, Natan, as the head of the Jewish Agency. These are all people that I try to advance their careers - these are all very gifted people who’ve come up in their own right. And I thought of this wondrous transformation that only 20 years ago - 25 years ago - all these people were probably struggling and yearning, facing impossible odds and they may even have seen already at that time the horizon begin to clear up. But this required many, many years of conviction and faith and steely determination and hope to be ‘next year in Jerusalem’.

Well, we’re here this year in Jerusalem. And I think part of the reason we’re here is this unique partnership that exists between the Jewish State and the Jewish people. We face problems and challenges like no other people but we have a bond like no other people. People comment about it. They have all sorts of - both admiration and sometimes odd speculation - that’s a nice way of saying it. It’s a mythic and sometimes mythical bond between us - between the Jewish people, between the Jewish state and the Diaspora. But it is a wondrous force. It has enabled us to defeat the greatest forces of history - overcome them - and to stand up to the greatest empires in history and to meet that challenge too. So we are here today in Jerusalem because that saying is not a cliché - we are one - but we have to make sure that our youngsters know that, that our children and grandchildren and our great-grandchildren know that. And we also must ensure that those who seek to extinguish Jewish identity or Jewish life will never succeed. This partnership will assure that they don’t.

Thank you very much.

weekly Cabinet meeting, 07/02/2010

“Israel aspires to complete peace agreements with all of its neighbors. We did this with Egypt and Jordan, and we aspire to achieve similar agreements with both the Palestinians and Syria. Two principles dictate our approach to peace negotiations with our neighbors:

First, we will conduct negotiations without preconditions. We do not accept the idea that Israel must always make extraordinary concessions in advance while the other side is exempt from making its own concessions. It is negotiations that will bring about an agreement and we will not enter into negotiations when everything is known in advance.

Second, at the end of the negotiations we need to maintain the State of Israel’s vital national interests, especially security. It is doubtful whether any peace agreement that is unaccompanied by solid security arrangements on the ground can last. We want peace that will last for years, decades and generations and to this end, these components, especially security, are essential.

I hope that we are before the resumption of the negotiations with the Palestinians. We are open to the resumption of the process with the Syrians. While involvement in the negotiations is important for us, it is less important than the two abovementioned principles, in both the Palestinian and the Syrian arenas.

Today, the Cabinet will establish a directors-general committee chaired by National Economic Council Chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel to formulate a national plan to reduce dependence on petroleum. This is one of the State of Israel’s vital interests. In my opinion, this is an international interest regarding air pollution, the instability of the international system as a result of the transfer of great sums of capital from certain countries, and - of course - the fact that certain countries which control the petroleum market also support terrorism. This interest is worldwide and the effort that we are making, in addition to the establishment of a scientific and academic team, is due to be supported by other countries. I spoke about this with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and others. They showed great interest in cooperating with our effort. While this effort will not bear fruit within a year or two, within a decade there will certainly be breakthroughs that could change and dramatically reduce the world’s dependence, especially regarding the use of petroleum for transportation. While there are many alternative energy solutions outside transportation, the world is very strongly dependent on petroleum due to the dependence of transportation on petroleum. Therefore, the focus of our diplomatic and organizational effort will be to find alternatives to petroleum in transportation.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that the Cabinet would be briefed on the plan to establish Israel’s fifth medical school, in Safed, and added that this would - inter alia - boost regional development in the Galilee.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also said that the Cabinet would decide to allocate NIS 30 million to support focused immigration plans from the US and France.