Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks at the ceremony:

 

“Let no one among us delude him or herself that if we make a peace agreement with the Palestinians, that this agreement would eliminate the wild defamation of the state of the Jews. What has been the lot of the Jews beforehand, for generations, today is the lot of the state of the Jews. Peace is desirable in and of itself. Peace is based on security. It is not based on goodwill and legitimacy as is believed. It is based, first of all, on our ability to defend ourselves. Without security, without the army, the establishment of which Herzl called for, we will be unable to defend the peace, we will be unable to defend ourselves if the peace frays. A basic condition for the existence of peace, for achieving it and for preserving it is security.”- click here to read the full speech

President Shimon Peres said:

 

“Peace is a moral foundation of Judaism, it is an existential need of the Jewish state. A binational state contradicts the vision of Herzl, it endangs the Jewish and democratic state of Israel. There is a chance to renew the peace process, and it is not to be missed. We welcome the arrival of Secretary of State Kerry, to Israel. This is an effort to revive the process and we will all help it to succeed.”