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Jabotinsky was one of the intellectual giants in the annals of Zionism and the history of our people in modern times. Today, I wish to emphasize three elements in Jabotinsky's actions and doctrine:

Firstly, his clear commitment to a Jewish state. Secondly, his timely identification of the dangers threatening our people. Thirdly, his recognition of the need to create a strong Jewish force to deter and defeat the forces threatening the Jewish people's future.

Many here undoubtedly know that Jabotinsky began his campaign for Zionism in the Land of Israel by organizing a defensive force to safeguard Jerusalem. He was arrested for this activity and released several months later following public pressure.

He viewed Jerusalem as an integral, essential and substantial component of the Jewish people's national revival. What he demanded of the Zionist leadership was to clearly anchor, rather than blur, the one and only political interpretation of the vague term "national home". In other words: a Jewish state with a solid, secure Jewish majority. He stated that only such unequivocal definition would have the power to re-ignite and unite the masses of Jews around the Zionist idea.

I must tell you that this demand was not widely accepted. It had its opponents, including from within. He was described as one who was stirring up trouble, emphasizing the unimportant, disrupting the consensus.

There was no national home, and certainly no Jewish state. And there he was, firmly demanding a Jewish state from all, including here in Jerusalem from the High Commissioner. It may seem obvious to you, but I know people who witnessed it and could not comprehend how a Jewish person could stand up, face the High Commissioner and the whole of Britain and say: we demand a Jewish state of our own, at a time when the entire British policy, the policy of that huge empire which ruled this land and large parts of the world, reneged and objected to this demand. Jabotinsky believed that this clear definition, based on the justness of Zionism, and only by continuously standing behind it and exerting ongoing pressure on the international community would public opinion eventually be awakened, and international policy be tilted towards the establishment of the Jewish state.

n this, Jabotinsky was, as I call him, "Herzl's unmistakable student", the torchbearer of Herzl's political Zionism rooted in "The Jewish State". Herzl named his booklet "The Jewish State" and created a revolution. He understood that setting the goal of the Jewish national identity in the future state would be the key to its very existence.

I focus on this element because in these very days, we are presenting a clear, sharp, unequivocal demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, a Jewish state.

This demand, in the framework of a peace agreement, is elementary, fundamental and necessary. Not because our national existence depends on our recognition by others. Our people do not need the Palestinians to recognize its right to a state of its own. We have had this right since ancient times, by power of our history and by power of our connection to our homeland.

However, it is peace - yes, peace - that needs this recognition, for without Palestinian recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, we could at best reach an agreement which is devoid of all content. A so-called "peace" in which the Palestinians would continue to teach their children to view their Jewish neighbors as thieves, living on stolen land, which must eventually be liberated through other means.

A peace agreement without recognition of a Jewish state would be like thin plaster on the flame of the animosity, an agreement which does not deal with the roots of the conflict. The refusal to recognize the State of Israel as our people's nation state is the very root of the conflict. It was the reason for the War of Independence and it is what has tragically sustained the conflict until today. Therefore, recognition of the Jewish state, the fulfillment of the Zionism of Herzl, Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion and all of us, opens the gate to genuine reconciliation and true peace that can last for generations.

Members of Knesset,

This is not the place to discuss the nature and background of the ideological disputes between Ze'ev Jabotinsky and his opponents, but I believe that gradually, over the years, those disputes have subsided. Many of the statements made by Jabotinsky were eventually adopted by his political rivals, and rightly so, because ultimately, uniting forces around agreed principles is what gives us the power to achieve our national goals.

By the way, Mr. Speaker, you mentioned the President. If I am not mistaken, he was among those who encouraged Levi Eshkol to bring Jabotinsky's remains to Israel - an act which made a tremendous impact on me as a child. I believe this act was an expression of that unity which has been formed over the years.

However, in addition to the Jewish state, I still want to emphasize one thing which certainly unites us all. I wish to emphasize two additional points in Jabotinsky's thinking which are still very relevant.

Jabotinsky differed from other Jewish leaders in one central matter. He differed from contemporary Zionist leaders first of all in his sense of the time, the sense that time was running out. In 1935 he identified that "the Third Reich's approach toward the Jews is characterized by a war of annihilation". He thus demanded an organized evacuation of the Jews of Eastern Europe, especially Poland, to the land of Israel. While political rivals accused him of spreading panic, Jabotinsky warned against the danger of annihilation several weeks before the outbreak of World War II. He therefore demanded the evacuation of Jews from Europe, the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel and the establishment of a military force for the Jewish state to ward off the attacks which he foresaw. This was the background for his famous "Iron Wall" article, which expresses the idea for the establishment of the IDF - the creation of an independent defense capability for the Jewish people.

As I review his legacy from beginning to end, I believe that Jabotinsky, as Herzl's successor, outlined the fundamentals of our existence.

On this occasion officially honoring the leader of Betar, it is important to remember Jabotinsky's commitment to Israel's Jewish character and the ongoing need to guarantee the security and consolidation of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

May his memory be blessed.