I am referring to the speech Prime
Minister Netanyahu gave at Bar Ilan University last night.
Credit:
TimesofIsrael
There had been considerable
anxiety prior to that talk. Four years ago, when he delivered a similar
talk at Bar Ilan, he first embraced the "two state solution." In the
run-up to his talk this time, the word was that he was going to announce a
change in policy. Rumor had it that it would involve a proposal for an
"interim" state, since reaching a final accord would not be possible; but such a
proposal would have been a disaster.
Thus were we most pleasantly
surprised when no such proposal was advanced. Nor was any suggestion made
that we have to give more, sacrifice, etc. etc. in order to make an accord
possible. What a relief!
~~~~~~~~~~
This talk by the prime minister
indeed did represent a new policy. What he has done - which is
marvelous and long overdue - is to tell the truth about the situation
and put the onus where it belongs: squarely on the Palestinian
Arabs.
This was truth that was
unvarnished and most definitely not politically correct. He spoke
for the Israeli position.
~~~~~~~~~~
I have been surprised as to how
little press this talk has received, for the policy it enunciates
inevitably will have considerable impact on the "negotiations," and on
the diplomatic climate more broadly.
I had delayed posting last night,
in the hope that the text of his talk, in English, would be available this
morning. But when it was not, I wrote what follows below as summary --
drawn primarily from my notes taken as he spoke.
Yet now, at this very moment,
as I am about to put this out, I have discovered that the full text of the talk
is at last available, put out by the prime minister's office and up on
IMRA.
I will leave my summary, in hopes
that it will be helpful to you -- and provide full links following. The
full speech, needless to say, is more powerful than any summary.
Netanyahu began by
reiterating his position on Iran, but I will move directly to what he said about
Israeli-PA negotiations, as this is where he charted a different
path:
~~~~~~~~~~
We are the exception to
the pattern of history. We were on this land (Israel) 4,000
years ago, and we are here now. This is, at once, our history and our
future.
We have achieved a peace agreement
with Jordan, and with Egypt - which has not been easy. And for the last 20
years, without success, we have been attempting to reach a peace agreement with
the Palestinian Authority.
To bring about the end of
the conflict, we must understand the root of that
conflict.
We are told that it is
"occupation" that is the root: that "settlements" perpetuate the
conflict.
But in reality, the conflict began
in 1921, when Palestinian Arabs attacked Beit Haolim in Yafo (Jaffa),
which housed new Jewish immigrants.
"Many Jews were killed in this
attack, including the well-known writer Y.H.Brenner. This attack was directed
against Jewish immigration.
"My grandfather arrived in Jaffa,
at that same house, the year before, as did many others. Clearly this attack was
not about territory or settlements; it was against Jewish immigration to
the Land of Israel."
Then in 1929, there was an Arab
massacre in the ancient Jewish community of Hevron, where Jews
were "brutally slaughtered."
From 1936-39 there were multiple
Arab attacks against Jews.
In 1947, an Arab state was
proposed in part of Palestine, along with a Jewish state. But the Arabs
refused. The issue wasn't an Arab state, the issue was a Jewish
state.
From 1921 to 1967, the Arabs
attacked even though there was no "occupation."
Up until 1967, they [i.e.,
Arab states] had formed a "loop of strangulation" around Israel. "There
were no territories. There was no 'occupation.'"
And now, attacks continue from
Gaza where rockets are launched against us, even though we left Gaza.
They want to liberate ALL of Palestine, they say. Which means Beersheva,
and Haifa, and Yafo...
The Palestinian Authority is not
the same as Hamas. But there is still a problem.
We ask that they recognize us as
the Jewish state, and they say, "We recognize Israel." We ask them to
recognize us as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and they say, "No, we
recognize the Israeli people, Israel."
They won't even forgo the "right
of return," which would bring millions of Arabs into Israel, undermining its
Jewish nature from within.
There will be no peace
until they recognize the nation state of the Jewish
people.
Now, the senior leader of the
Palestinians from 1921 to World War II was the Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini who
actively cooperated with the Nazis and encouraged the genocide of the Jewish
people. There is even evidence that he visited the gas chambers with
Adolph Eichmann.
These roots must be eradicated:
The Palestinian movement still admires the
Mufti.
The root of the conflict
is the [Palestinian Arab] opposition to the right of the Jewish people to be in
the Land of Israel.
We must hear the PA leadership
acknowledge our rights before we can proceed to other issues.
And the next issue, first and
foremost is security. We would need arrangements that
provided genuine security, without the presence of international
troops [something that is often proposed]. That the state would
have to be demilitarized is obvious, given our experience.
After generations of
incitement [by the PA], we do not have security.
Even if the PA leadership were to accept the concept of a Jewish state, and a
Jewish people living in the Land, we do not believe this concept would trickle
down to the people. We would still need security [i.e., against continuing
terrorism].
For real peace, we would be
willing to make real sacrifices. And let me tell you, it would be hard.
We are willing to
recognize their nation state, "and that is at great cost - it involves territories, our ancestral lands, which is not insignificant."
recognize their nation state, "and that is at great cost - it involves territories, our ancestral lands, which is not insignificant."
But first they have to recognize
the nation-state of the Jewish people.
"The political process with the
Palestinians...will be deemed successful only if it is built on the foundations
of truth, the truth of the present and historic truth and
unfortunately, the truth that is under constant attack from our enemies and
opponents. They try to undermine the ancient connection of our people
with the Land of Israel "
~~~~~~~~~~
Netanyahu did not say, as many
would have wished, that negotiations are terminated forthwith.
But he made it clear that they're
not going anywhere, and that no one should expect a final deal in the early
months of 2014.
He said nothing about obligations
Israel has. to make further "concessions," to advance those negotiations.
He's finally got it right: First things first.
He did not say we would be
annexing Judea and Samaria forthwith - not even Area C. But he did
say that the Palestinian Arabs are on our ancestral
land. The implication, as he said it, was that under the right
conditions he might consider the establishment of a Palestinian state on part of
that land (a difficult sacrifice). That is most regrettable, but he knows,
we all know, that we are not going to see the development of those "right"
conditions.
What I think is important here, is
that he has begun to stand for Israeli rights, including rights to the
land. SAYING that it's our land -- while a given to many of us -- is
significant, as Abbas eternally babbles on about the '67 line and is
forever denying our ancient connection to the land. THIS is what the world
needs to hear, enunciated first by our head of state.
What is happening here is a
beginning of a new time that can move in due course to that annexation - if we
are mindful of what needs to be done to stay strong and to promote
this.
For so long - since the beginning
of Oslo - our rights have gotten lost because support of the Palestinian Arabs
was politically correct and because they spoke out their demands loud and clear,
while many of our leaders equivocated. It is a source for
celebration, that we should begin to see this turn-around.
I am aware of commentators who are
disgruntled because Netanyahu's turn-around was not complete. Me? I
see a process and greater cause for optimism. I see possibility.
I cannot emphasize enough
the importance of all of us staying the course now.
~~~~~~~~~~
Every word Netanyahu spoke about
the Mufti is true, but I would add this: The Mufti was
al-Husseini. Yasser Arafat was from the Husseini family and the Mufti
was his mentor. Arafat referred to him as
"uncle." Mahmoud Abbas, before succeeding Arafat, was for
many years Arafat's disciple.
Connect the dots, my
friends. These people have no legitimate claim to anything.
~~~~~~~~~~
As this speech has not received
much press, I ask that you share this posting very broadly, so
that people can begin to understand our prime minister's new, enunciated
position.
The full speech, translated from
Hebrew into English, can be found here:
The speech in Hebrew can be found
here:
~~~~~~~~~~
Elder of Ziyon has provided a link
to a video of the talk, which was, of course, in Hebrew. It has
English translation voice over, and you will find it more audible if volume
is not too high. The video is of the entire proceedings at Bar Ilan last
night -- with a host of introductory goings-on. The prime minister begins
his talk at about 50 minutes. If you want the content on Israeli-Arab
relations that is summarized above, go to almost 1
hour.
It is worthwhile to see his
presentation, because he is excellent.
~~~~~~~~~~
You have here an example of
precisely what PM Netanyahu is addressing, in several regards:
Noam Glick, a little girl of nine,
was shot this week by a terrorist in her own yard, in the community of Psagot,
which is in the Binyamin area of Samaria, not far from Ramallah. She had
startled a man who was about to enter her house; he shot her and fled.
Thank Heaven her injury, because of its location, was not serious.
Jabil Rajoub, a top official of
Fatah (again: the predominant party of the PA, the party of Abbas), was asked by
Kol Yisrael radio if he condemned the attack. His answer (emphasis
added):
“Listen, listen, I condemn
everything that causes damage. I
condemn it and I condemn those responsible for it. And those responsible
for it are the Government of Israel and the prime minister of
Israel. [The Israeli government] incites and provokes by
building settlements."
No further comment is
necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, former
Sephardic Chief Rabbi and major authority in halakha (Jewish law), passed away
today at 93 after a long illness. He has been spiritual leader of Shas
since its founding.
Credit: Flash
90
Over half-a-million people
attended his funeral today in Jerusalem.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon had
this to day about the rabbi:
“I have known Rabbi Yosef for years.
I met with him at his request, in order to present to him my views on security
matters and political issues. I also met him several
times, when I was IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister.
“In all our meetings, the Rabbi expressed great concern for the security of the country. He was very aware of what was going on inside and outside of Israel. The greatness of his personality came out in that he not only was a great adjudicator of Jewish law, but also in that he always listened to different opinions before he took a stand. And he did this with an open mind and with patience."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172606
~~~~~~~~~~
“In all our meetings, the Rabbi expressed great concern for the security of the country. He was very aware of what was going on inside and outside of Israel. The greatness of his personality came out in that he not only was a great adjudicator of Jewish law, but also in that he always listened to different opinions before he took a stand. And he did this with an open mind and with patience."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172606
~~~~~~~~~~
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Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner,
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