PM Netanyahu's speech at the Knesset Special Session in honor of the President of the French Republic, Francois Hollande
(Monday, 18 November 2013)
Mr. President, my friend, Francois Hollande, welcome to Jerusalem.
Welcome to the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,000 years.
The people of the State of Israel greet your arrival with fondness,
with feelings of genuine friendship. You said yesterday that you are a
true friend of Israel; I agree. We thank you for your strong support of
our efforts to fortify Israel's security and to establish a true peace
with our neighbors. We appreciate your position that nuclear weapons in
the hands of Iran is a danger not only to Israel but to the entire
world.
Mr. President, yesterday as you arrived in Israel, I said that
France's contribution to human culture was tremendous and indeed it is.
Philosophers such as Descartes and Montaigne, men of science such as
Lavoisier and Laplace, encyclopedists such as Diderot and Voltaire – I
can tell you personally that my father was the editor of the Hebrew
Encyclopedia and he always spoke of their contributions, and those of
statesmen such as Montesquieu and de Tocqueville, medical researchers
such as Louis Pasteur and Marie Curie, writers such as Victor Hugo and
Emile Zola, artists such as Renoir and Rodin, and the list goes on and
on – what a contribution to humanity.
However, few know of France's unique contribution to Zionism.
I previously wrote about how support by the leading countries of
the world for Zionism began at the turn of the 20th century. It was
anchored in a new vision of the Jewish people, one that developed
following the period of enlightenment and revolution in France.
The philosophers of the time emphasized the natural rights and
freedoms of each and every person. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the
greatest philosophers and intellectuals of the Enlightenment of the 18th
century, well understood the unique status of the Jewish people.
The
Jews, he wrote, represented an irregular situation: Athens, Sparta and
Rome had been destroyed and had passed from the world, their peoples
disappearing from the planet, but Zion did not lose its children.
And Rousseau, who espoused rights for everyone, then took care to
add the following sentence. He said, "I will never believe that I am
hearing a serious argument by the Jews as long as they do not have a
free country, and their own schools and universities where they can
express themselves and argue without fear – only then can we know what
they have to say".
With this statement, Rousseau was among the first people to tie
personal freedom with national freedom, and this perception only grew
stronger during the 19th century: that only the national rehabilitation
of the Jewish people in the Jewish homeland would lead to a real
resolution to the problem of the Jewish people. It would return the Jews
to a normal status, not only as a nation, but also as individuals, just
as Rousseau thought.
Even Napoleon, it is said, shared the desire to see the Jews return
to their land, at least that is what the Zionist leaders believed when
they quoted a statement attributed to Napoleon in 1799, when his army
was only 40 kilometers from Jerusalem. "Hasten, Jews! Now is the moment…
to claim… your political existence as a nation among the nations". This
attitude was strengthened later by French writers and poets who visited
Israel, like the well-known French poet Lamartine, who wrote with great
emotion, "This is Judea; this is the place of the Jewish people".
Mr. President, the Speaker of the Knesset rightly mentioned the
impact the Dreyfus trial and the rising anti-Semitism at the end of the
19th century had as one of the factors that motivated Herzl to pursue
political Zionism, but just as important was the impact of positive
factors on the Jewish people, such as Emile Zola, who stood forcefully
against anti-Semitism, and French President Clemenceau, who
enthusiastically supported the establishment of a national home for the
Jewish people in the Land of Israel at the Versailles Conference in
1919.
This was also the attitude of the wonderful French journalist,
Albert Londres. Londres visited Israel in 1929, after he passed through
many Jewish communities in Europe. He saw the poverty of the Jews in the
East and he also saw their lack of security in the West. Londres
arrived in Israel and wrote, "Whoever sees the children of Abraham in
the Carpathians or on the Vistula River, and 15 days later arrives on
the eastern shore of the Mediterranean discovers that they have become
the children of Theodor Herzl and feels a thrill of amazement. A Jew had
a dream; he saw his miserable brothers and sisters tear off their
chains, take flight, cross the sea and rejuvenate their image in the
land of their forefathers – they were slaves, now they will be free. In
their souls, shame has been replaced by pride. Confidence will take the
place of fear, and each of them can shout from their windows, 'I am a
Jew, this is my glory'".
Londres, who was perhaps the greatest journalist in France during
the modern era, certainly of the 20th century, was perceptive and in
1929 recognized clearly the depth of Arab resistance to Jewish
settlement as it was taking shape in the Land of Israel. He visited in
Tel Aviv, wandering the streets, becoming enthused by what he saw, and
he wrote, "In 1908, there was not a single home here. In 1929, there are
nearly 5,000. 'I shall rebuild you and you shall be rebuilt' is written
on the town's seal". Then he added, "From the day the first stone was
laid, the Arab answered, 'I will destroy you and you shall be
destroyed'".
I remind you, my friends, in 1929, there were no so-called
"settlements", as they are called today. The true desire of our enemies
was to drive us out of Tel Aviv and indeed out of every place in this
land. Well, they did not succeed – not to drive us out of Tel Aviv and
not to destroy us. They did not succeed in preventing the establishment
of the State of Israel, but even when the country was established, they
did not stop trying to achieve their goal. And here, Mr. President, we
had the help of France – during the period of the underground
organizations, before the establishment of the country, during the first
fateful years of its existence, France stood by our side. I think there
is one person who can testify to this more than any other and that is
our President, Shimon Peres, who played a central role in developing the
relationship between Israel and France. Since those early years, there
have been ups and down in our relations, but I must say that the
fundamental ties between Israel and France have never been undermined.
Mr. President, in this house I have said several times that I
accept the solution of two states for two peoples in the framework of a
genuine peace that puts an end to the conflict, alongside strong
security arrangements for Israel. Not all members of this house agree
with this statement, but most of us agree on one thing: for the peace to
be genuine, it must be a two-way street. The Jews cannot be asked to
recognize a Palestinian nation-state without a demand that the
Palestinians recognize the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Sir, just hours ago, you met with the President of the Palestinian
Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. I call on him from here today: let us break
the stalemate, come to the Israeli Knesset and I will come to Ramallah.
Stand at this podium and recognize the historic truth. The Jews have a
connection with the Land of Israel stretching back nearly 4,000 years.
The Jews are a people with the right for self-definition. Genuine peace
will end all Palestinian claims on the State of Israel, including
national claims on the country's territory and sovereignty.
Mr. President, genuine peace is the aspiration of every person in
Israel, and that includes hundreds of thousands of French speakers who
immigrated to Israel – they are an integral part of our country, our
society, our economy and all fields. This community has made a
tremendous contribution to establishing the State of Israel and ensuring
its future. Its sons and daughters have strong ties with their brothers
and sisters, members of the large Jewish community in France.
Unfortunately, the community in France must face anti-Semitic
harassment. And I know, my friend Francois, you are acting tirelessly
with determination and perseverance to stop this phenomenon.
Yesterday, we visited Yad Vashem together and I saw how closely you
studied the depictions of the horrors and I witnessed your emotion. I
also remember our emotional visit to Toulouse after the horrifying
massacre at the Jewish school there. I would like to tell you again
here: no attempt to frighten us or destroy us or uproot us from this
place – no such attempt will succeed. The State of Israel is strong, am
Israel chai [the people of Israel live].
My friend Francois, welcome to our country.
Bienvenue á la Knesset, Bienvenue á Jérusalem