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Mr.
President,
Before I begin, I want to extend condolences to the people of
France following yesterday's bombing of their Embassy in Libya. We also extend
our condolences to the American people following the attack in Boston last week.
Our prayers are with the victims, families and citizens of both countries.
I want to congratulate His Excellency, Ambassador Eugène Gasana, and
the delegation of Rwanda for their leadership of the Security Council this
month.
Mr. President,
Last Tuesday, the State of Israel marked
65 years as a free and independent homeland for the Jewish people. On that
historic day six and half decades ago, the leaders of the new Jewish State
issued a Declaration of Independence. It affirmed (and I quote), "We offer peace
and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to
cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of
all."
Israel wants peace. Not a day has gone by in the past 65 years in
which the people of Israel have not yearned for peace. Last month, during his
visit to Israel President Obama said, "I know Israel has taken risks for peace….
[and] I believe that the Israeli people do want peace."
Jewish
tradition teaches that the world is sustained on three pillars - truth, justice
and peace. Today I'd like to speak about the three pillars upon which a true and
lasting peace in our region must stand. These pillars of peace are the
foundation that must remain standing in the shifting sands of the Middle East.
Anything less would be a peace based on illusions and delusions, a peace that is
bound to crumble.
Mr. President,
Pillar number one: Peace must
be built on a foundation of education for tolerance and
coexistence.
Peace should be fostered in homes, taught in schools,
nourished by leaders and woven into the very fabric of society. The UN Charter
urges nations to (and I quote), "Practice tolerance and live together in peace
with one another as good neighbours".
It doesn't take an urban planner
to realize that the Palestinians are missing the blueprints to build a peaceful
neighborhood. From cradles to kindergarten classrooms, from the fields of summer
camps to the fields of football stadiums, messages of intolerance fill
Palestinian society.
Under the Palestinian Authority, students learn
history from textbooks that glorify terrorists. They learn geography from
atlases that erase Israel from the map. Gaza kindergarten graduations feature
"terrorist dress-up". Five-year olds stage plays that glorify jihadists and
suicide bombers. Instead of learning their ABCs, Palestinian children are being
taught H-A-T-E. Hate.
Flip through the channels of Palestinian Authority
television and you might find a children's program featuring a young girl
reciting a poem that called Jews (and I quote) "Allah's enemies, the sons of
pigs" who "rap[e] women in city squares." Apparently, this is what passes for
"educational television" under the Palestinian Authority.
How can we
expect children in Gaza to learn tolerance when their own leaders repress them
day in and day out? Hamas has banned co-education, arrested women for riding
bicycles, and prohibited women from appearing in public with their hair
uncovered. Earlier this month, Hamas police pulled dozens of young men off the
street and brutally beat them for the so-called "offense" of wearing pants that
were too tight. I'd say that this is taking the phrase "fashion police" to a
whole new level.
Month after month this Council meets to discuss what is
wrong in the Middle East. Where are the concerned voices in this debate for all
the hate being taught to Palestinian children? Where are the cries denouncing
the incitement that poisons the wells of peace?
Mr.
President,
Pillar number two: Peace must be built on a clear recognition
that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people.
Since King David
laid the cornerstone for his palace in Jerusalem three thousand years ago, Jews
have lived continuously in the land of Israel. They saw the rise and fall of the
Babylonian and Roman Empires. They endured through crusades and pogroms until
the reestablishment of the Jewish State.
I have said it before and I'll
say it again, Israel is committed to two states for two peoples. In 1947, we
readily accepted the UN's plan to create two states in the region, an Arab state
and a Jewish state. At the time, Arab leaders rejected the existence of a Jewish
state. Sixty five years later, you still never hear Palestinian leaders speak
about two states for two peoples.
While President Abbas claims to march
steadily towards peace, his actions fail to fall in step. Last November, the
Palestinian Authority built a monument in a central square in Bethlehem
depicting the boundaries of a Palestinian state. This state extended from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. Israel was literally wiped off the
map.
Conveniently enough, surprise, surprise, when foreign dignitaries
visit Bethlehem, the monument is removed from its position and taken in for
"repairs." As the old saying goes, "You can fool some of the people some of the
time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
The Palestinian
delegate cited Norwegian aid in his remarks earlier. In recent years, Oslo has
provided hundreds of millions of dollars in annual aid to the Palestinian
Authority. According to Norway's Foreign Minister, the PA misled Oslo when they
claimed Norwegian aid money was not used to provide salaries for convicted
terrorists in Israeli prisons.
The PA has been using these types of
underhanded tactics to funnel money to convicted murderers with blood on their
hands. Last year, as the PA was threatening to delay salaries to its civil
servants, it somehow managed to find the necessary funds to triple - triple -
its monthly payments to these terrorists.
While President Abbas speaks
about peace, he continues to publically embrace Hamas. Abbas recently renewed
his efforts to create a unity deal with Hamas, a terrorist organization
dedicated to Israel's destruction. In an interview last month with the Russian
network RT, Abbas went so far as to say (and I quote) "I don't see much
difference" between the policies of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
Let me remind Mr. Abbas of a simple truth. Hamas and its extremist
ideology are the enemies of peace. Their ideas do not empower Palestinians to
build a brighter future. They enslave them in a darkened past. There will be no
peace until our neighbors recognize Israel as a Jewish state that is here to
stay.
Mr. President,
Pillar number three: Peace must be built on
security.
These days the cities and communities of southern Israel
remain under fire from terrorists in Gaza. This is despite the fact that there
has not been a single Israeli settlement in Gaza since 2005. After ten years and
more than twelve thousand rockets, this Council has not said a word to condemn
the perpetrators. Israeli citizens want real assurances for their security. The
situation in Gaza provides us with a valuable lesson concerning any future
arrangement in the West Bank.
As rockets fly out of Gaza, new and more
sophisticated weapons are flowing in. Just this month, security forces detained
a vessel off the southern coast of the Sinai Peninsula carrying 60,000 rifles,
RPG launchers, machine guns, hand grenades and ammunition. Ships like these
routinely smuggle arms to Gaza and to Sinai-based terrorist groups.
It
is no secret that Iran is the primary supplier of weapons and the greatest
sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East. Yet earlier this month, the Iranian
delegate stood in front of the General Assembly to share Iran's so-called
concerns with the Arms Trade Treaty. He had the audacity to say the following
(and I quote), "the transfer of arms to the Middle East…has gravely affected the
security and welfare of the people of this region, and led to many lost lives in
recent years." It is quite an interesting statement to hear from an Iranian
delegate. This is like the Mafia complaining that the crime rate in New York is
too high.
The Iranian regime spins lies almost as quickly as they are
spinning centrifuges. The Ayatollahs are threatening to combine their extremist
ideology with missiles and nuclear weapons. Make no mistake - Iran's ambition
for nuclear weapons is the single greatest threat to the Middle East and the
entire world.
The Iranian nuclear program continues to advance at the
speed of an express train. The international community's efforts to stop them
are moving at the pace of the local train, pausing at every stop for some
nations to get off and on. Last month, there was yet another round of
negotiations to reason with Iran and convince them to abandon their nuclear
program. Just days after negotiations ended, Iran announced two key
infrastructure projects. Surprise, surprise…both of them expanded Iran's ability
to process uranium.
At the same time that Iran is advancing its nuclear
ambitions, it is providing guidance to Bashar al-Assad to more effectively
butcher the Syrian people. As we speak, Iran is sending Hezbollah fighters to
Syria to help execute their bloody plans on the ground.
In Lebanon,
Hezbollah is building an army equipped with 50,000 missiles - more than many
NATO members. Now they might have access to one of the largest stockpiles of
chemical weapons in the world. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claims he
needs this army to defend Lebanon against Israel. The truth is, Nasrallah wants
an army to more effectively butcher his Arab brothers and
sisters.
Hezbollah doesn't feel the need to limit its brand of terrorism
exclusively to the Middle East. Last month, a court in Cyprus jailed a member of
Hezbollah for planning terrorist attacks against civilians. Yet this still isn't
enough for some EU members to call Hezbollah what it is - a terrorist
organization. It operates with impunity on European soil, yet some European
lawmakers continue to insist it is a social-services organization. It doesn't
take a Sherlock Holmes to understand the obvious facts of this
case.
These are just some of the threats Israel faces in the region. Any
peace agreement must be based on reassurances for the security and safety of the
citizens of the only Jewish state.
Mr. President,
Since Israel
was born sixty five years ago, we have been forced to fight six wars in six
decades to defend our very existence. We know peace comes at a price. We want
peace, but not at any cost. We will not turn a blind eye in the face of the
threats that surround us.
Now is the time to put aside the distracting
sideshows of this debate and focus on how we can lay the foundation for a
genuine, lasting peace. It is naïve to think that peace can come from grand
statements and vague promises. It would be like trying to build a new house on a
shaky foundation. The whole structure is at risk of collapsing.
For all
those who believed that the so-called Arab Spring would result in the blossoming
of a new Middle East, take note. Democracy has not taken root. Instead, what we
have seen is more bloodshed and more violence. To truly establish peace, we must
build a structure that can withstand the rough winds of change that are sweeping
the region.
Winston Churchill said, "We shape our buildings; thereafter
they shape us."
The architecture of peace has never been clearer. As we
face historic challenges in the Middle East, it has never been more important to
strengthen the pillars of tolerance, mutual recognition, and security. These are
the blueprints that need to be followed by Israelis and Palestinians, and indeed
by all people in the Middle East, if we are to live in peace, security and
prosperity.
Thank you, Mr. President.