First, let me express the condolences of the people of Israel
for the passing of Prime Minister Mazowiecki. He was one of the
founders of modern, democratic Poland. We understand this as a people,
the role of formative leaders in formative transitions.
You know, Mr. President, I have had the opportunity to make
about half a dozen trips to Poland, and on each visit, I was impressed
by the great achievements of the Polish people. Poland can be justly
proud of its economic success. You have achieved tremendous growth and a
tremendous increase in your standard of living. And you can also be
proud of your strong democracy. And you personally have played an
important role in establishing that democracy, building it. I know that
you paid a personal price, and people have a way of repaying people,
leaders who have paid their dues.
Mr. President, our two peoples
share a long history together. It's a history that contains periods of
both great mutual achievement and incomparable suffering. The murder of
millions of Polish Jews by the Nazis on Polish soil is the most
unparalleled strategy in the history of mankind. My wife's father's
family was wiped out and this is mirrored in the stories of many, many
other Israelis and Jews around the world who personally experienced,
directly or through their family members this calamity and this
catastrophe.
We will never forget the victims of the Holocaust; we will
never forget this ultimate crime against humanity, the crime of
genocide; and we will never forget and never lessen our commitment to
make sure this never happens again.
I also know the tremendous
suffering that the Nazi occupation brought to the people of Poland, and
to the people of Warsaw, and to the extraordinary struggle of heroism
and courage that accompanied this suffering.
So both our peoples
have struggled against tremendous adversity. We have both fought for our
independence and freedom. In our case, I'd say, we fought for our
actual survival. And we both triumphed. So that means we don't take
anything for granted. Today, we see a strong, free Poland, a strong,
free Israel – two confident, prosperous, proud democracies. And I know
that in Poland, we have a true friend. We cooperate in so many fields:
in trade and science and technology, in culture and education. In my
recent visit to Poland with Prime Minister Tusk, we strengthened that
cooperation even more, and I was impressed in all these fields how we
can help one another strengthen our relationship, strengthen our
economies. And we're doing it. And your visit is an opportunity to
strengthen it even further, especially in another field in which we
cooperate, which is international affairs and the field of security.
Mr. President, while we are meeting here in Jerusalem, tens
of thousands of people are chanting "death to America" in the streets of
Tehran. They're commemorating, even celebrating the 1979 seizure of the
US Embassy. If you want to see the true face of this regime, see it
there – chants of "death to America". Because there's a debate now in
the West: what is the true face of Iran?
Here's what I want to
say… There's a debate in the West today. People are saying: what is the
true face of the Iranian regime, because they have obviously changed
their style. They speak now in English and they smile. Yeah, they smile
in the talks in Europe, but that regime, which is controlled by
Khamenei, has tens of thousands of people on the streets of Tehran today
chanting "death to America", celebrating the seizure of the US Embassy in 1979, 34 years ago.
They're celebrating, and Khamenei, who is the real ruler of Iran,
yesterday says: America is the most hated country in the world.
You
can't believe a word of what they say. And he fuels that hatred. That's
the real Iran. That's the boss of Iran. That's what Iran wants to do,
this country that sends terrorists around the world, including to
Washington, DC to kill the Saudi ambassador; this country that
participates in the mass murder of tens of thousands of men, women and
children in Damascus; this country that continuously defies UN Security
Council resolutions telling it to stop developing nuclear weapons. This
country is saying, chanting "death to America".
Do we want this country to have nuclear weapons? And the
answer is: absolutely not and they shouldn't be given a free pass. They
shouldn't be given a partial deal that allows them to keep most or all
of their nuclear weapons capability for the exchange of reducing
sanctions. America and the P5+1 should listen to the chants of "death to
America" in Tehran, give no discounts to Tehran.
Mr. President, Poland and Israel recognize a tyrannical
regime when they see one. And the tyrants of Tehran should not have
centrifuges or plutonium to build nuclear weapons. This is the interest
of Israel and the Arab world and Europe and America and Russia and China
– anybody in the world who wants to see peace has that same interest.
And
we have many other interests, which I look forward to discuss with you.
This is not your first visit to Israel, but it's your first visit to
Israel as the President of Poland. I welcome you warmly in the name of
the Government of Israel and the people of Israel. Welcome to Jerusalem.
President Komorowski: Prime
Minister, Polish-Israel or actually Polish-Jewish relations have really
very long and very rich history. From that history, we can take
handfuls of good measures, good incentives and what ideas with which we
can contribute to the development of good relations between our states
and our nations today.
I want to tell you openly that it is
always a great pleasure for me to find when I speak with other people,
with my interlocutors, that they are able to find in their own history
and their own family the traditions that have their roots in the many
centuries of the presence of Jewish communities in the territory of
Poland. It is always a very nice feeling and really it gives me this
soft soft that I can hear the family histories that are uttered by the
President of the State of Israel, Prime Minister, the head of the
National Security Council. It is important because it also illustrates
very friendly relations between Poland and Israel and our two nations.
And I would like to thank you very much, Prime Minister, for
reminding here the name of a person who is very important for all of us
here, Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who was the first non-Communist
prime minister of the government in the pre-independent and democratic
Poland. And I also want to say that it is really good to note that it
was during the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the turn of the systems
in Poland – '89-'90 – when a decision was made to establish diplomatic
relations between Poland and the State of Israel. That decision was
executed in 1990. And I wish to stress that the newly regained freedom
and democracy in Poland signified the new relations between Poland and
Israel, Poland and Jewish people.
So I'm really glad that the relations between our two
countries today, Poland and Israel, are not only focusing on the
reflecting on the past together, the tragic past, the past that was
especially difficult and tragic in the period of the Nazi occupation and
the Jewish Holocaust. But it is really a possibility for us now to
develop direct relations, human relations, between our young people in
Israel and in Poland, representatives of our military, our business
community, our trade, our culture. An element of this process is also
the intensification of political and diplomatic relations.
To tell you openly, I believe that we can use this
possibility of cooperation and strengthening our relations not only to
pursue our economy or our economic goals, but also to share our
experiences. And our experiences have roots in the fact that both of our
nations used to live, or have been living in the area that is not
always very friendly.
As you know, Prime Minister, Poland happens
to be located for thousands of years between Germany and Russia, two
mighty powers. That is why we understand perfectly well the
determination of the State of Israel and the pride of the State of
Israel to build a state to defend against their adversaries. And that is
also the Polish experience, that you have to be determined in order to
avoid taking once again the lesson of difficult loss of our
independence. One of the Polish experiences of the last 25 years is also
the ability to be able to overcome the barriers of history and historic
resentments, and try to build reconciliation and understanding and
cooperation with those who have been believed to be our eternal enemies.
And I would like to stress once again that we in Poland
understand very well the strong position and the strong policy of Israel
to defend your security, and we in Poland, we hope that the security of
this region will be rooted in the peace talks and the attempts to seek
security for the State of Israel and for the whole region. And as
friends of Israel, we are keeping fingers crossed for all the processes
that go in the direction of increasing the security of the State of
Israel and the development of the better statehood of Israel and the
betterhood [sic] of the whole region.
PM Netanyahu: I
would say that we seek a secure and genuine peace with the
Palestinians, and we will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons or
nuclear weapon capability. That sums up our commitment for peace and
security.
President Komorowski: It is an extremely important element to provide for the security of Israel and the whole of the region, and we understand it.
PM Netanyahu: Well, I'm sure you do, and I'd like to invite you to lunch.