Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday, 9 June:
“I hope that there'll be a day when all our neighbors create hope for all the peoples of this region. And it may take a long time. [Google Executive Chairman] Eric Schmidt asked me this morning, "Well, what do you think is going to happen?" because I asked him, "What do you think will happen with the internet?" And he said, "That's complicated." He said, "What do you think will happen with the Middle East?" And I said, "Well, that's complicated." But I told him I'm going to surprise you; I think that down the line - I'm very optimistic. Because I think down the line modernity beats medievalism. Free information and free choice beats cloistered minds.
That's always happened in history. That's why humanity more or less moves upward - more or less. But there are some downward spirals. And the most downward of downward spirals occurs when radical regimes get the weapons of mass death and act out their fantasies. They eventually come down, but the question is at what cost. In the long run, I think militant Islam will succumb to the forces of modernity but it could take many decades. And we have to make sure that in the interim millions of innocent people don't die and that our people don't undergo another commemoration. That's our responsibility.
And I think it's possible if we're clear-eyed, if we're resolute, if we do what we need to strength our country, to form alliances near and far, far and near, if we look reality in the eye and not try to, what we used to say in the army, force the map. Look at the world as it really is. See where you can make those changes to improve it or to ward off dangers. Build, build this country, build its economy, build its science, build its future, build its society, build alliances. Every state needs alliances. Superpowers need alliances. A small state like Israel definitely needs alliances. Definitely.
Well, until the neighborhood changes, what will give us hope? I think three things that enabled us to build this country from a beachhead of 600,000 people to a population now of eight million and a global digital powerhouse, to quote a small investor, and the many other wonders that you see around you, including this institution [the IDC Herzliya], which under Israeli bureaucracy is a real miracle. What will give us hope? Strength, wisdom and confidence. Israel must be strong. It must be very strong because, again, no one will make peace with a weak Israel. Second, Israel must be wise and a wise Israel means taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the dramatic changes in our region and in the world.
I want to say something about bridge-buildings. It's not always achieved by grand pronouncements. In fact, it can often be undermined by them. Bridge-building is a delicate process that has been quietly strengthened in the past few years and can be dramatically strengthened in the years ahead, especially if some of our Arab neighbors join us in influencing the Palestinians to get back to the table and negotiate a responsible deal, responsible and good for both our peoples.
And third, Israel must be confident, confident in the justice of its cause and the values it upholds. Israel's values stand out like a beacon in the dark Middle East. There was a great English writer, George Eliot, who wrote - the word she used I think is that they will be in the vanguard of the Middle East… She said, I'm paraphrasing, "…a state that will shine the light of freedom amid the despotisms of the East." Exactly.
I wish we weren't that unique, but we are. But I think our values are not only remarkable by the standards of the region; they're remarkable by any standard. What other country has been struck by thousands and thousands of rockets and acted with the restraint that Israel showed last summer? What other country would respond to… well, respond so disproportionally to the disasters in Haiti and Nepal and elsewhere?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Israel upholds these values even when the most horrific violence is meted out against it. We uphold these values even when we're defamed and libeled as killers of children, poisoners of wells and enemies of mankind. The people of Israel face many challenges, but not living up to our values is not one of them. On the contrary: We uphold universal values in a region where those values have been shunted aside, trampled upon to the dust. And while we wait for those values to take root in the shifting sands of the Middle East, we will stand proud, proud of the light that we have built in the darkness, a light that I am confident will burn even brighter in the future.”