Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General,
Once again we have gathered to discuss the Middle East, Israel, and the Palestinians.
Time and time again we meet in this chamber for this debate.
We hear very long discussions about the nature of the conflict and new proposals to solve it.
But the root of the conflict is not very hard to understand and the solution is clear.
For sixty seven years, Israel has been pursuing peace.
Despite decades of war and rejection, we never gave up on this goal.
Israel finally achieved peace when two brave Arab leaders, President Sadat and King Hussein, chose to lay down their arms.
They chose the path of cooperation, and the path of partnership, over the misery of war and conflict.
This was the key to peace with Egypt in 1981.
This was the key to peace with Jordan in 1994.
And it is the key to peace with the Palestinians // today.
The Palestinian people deserve peace.
They deserve a brighter and better future.
So let me be clear.
On the day the Palestinian leadership rejects terror and violence,
On the day they embrace coexistence and cooperation, that is the day there will be peace.
But is that what the Palestinian leadership wants?
Do they really want peace?
If you believe they do, then you will have to explain a few “inconvenient” facts.
Fact number one:
The Palestinian leadership refuses to condemn the murder of Israeli men, women, and children..
Let me ask everyone in this room, don’t Israeli lives matter?
Fact number two:
The Palestinian Authority glorifies terrorism, and glorifies terrorists.
They name squares after suicide bombers and hang posters of them on school walls.
Tell me, when did terrorism become heroism?
Fact number three:
Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the PA, refuses to even sit down with Prime Minister Netanyahu. To sit down.
How can we make peace, if we can’t even talk?
Just recently,the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said loudly and clearly, and I quote,
“We will never go back and sit again in a direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.”
We understand …that members of this Council
may not have answers to these questions.
What we don’t understand is why you don’t demand answers.
Mr. President,
The State of Israel and the people of Israel don’t have any more time to wait for answers.
For decades we’ve been facing Palestinian terrorism.
In just the last few months, Israelis have faced a wave of non-stop daily attacks by Palestinian terrorists.
Over three hundred and fifty separate attacks in one hundred and seventy six days.
That means two terror attacks a day, every day, for half a year. That is the reality.
34 people have been killed, and hundreds have been injured.
How has the Palestinian leadership responded?
Have they stopped the daily calls for violence that is fueling the bloodshed?
Has there been a clear, clear condemnation by the Palestinian leadership?
The answer is No.
Instead of condemning these attacks, they encourage them.
They reward terrorists and their families with monthly salaries.
The more horrific the attack, the more horrific the crime, the higher the payment.
In Palestinian society terrorists are treated like heroes.
This year, we all participated in the CSW, Mr. Secretary General. On International Women’s Day, official PA television called Dalal Mughrabi a role model for Palestinian women.
For those of you who may not know, who may not remember, Dalal Mughrabi was a terrorist.
In 1978, she hijacked an Israeli bus, and murdered thirty eight innocent people, including thirteen children.
This is the woman the Palestinians have turned into a national symbol.
These are facts we never seem to hear in this chamber.
Instead, some are all too eager to offer justification for Palestinian terror, and excuses for violence.
Many find it convenient to ignore the basic truth:
The endless incitement and the ongoing glorification of violence is directly, directly responsible
for the murder of innocent Israelis.
For many Palestinians, this incitement is a daily reality.
Children go to school and listen to the tales of terrorists.
Teenagers turn on the TV and see a constant flow of images of hate and violence.
Young adults go to the Mosques and hear sermons demonizing Israel, and calling for its destruction.
Twenty four, seven.
This reality has deadly consequences.
On January Seventeenth, a young Israeli mother was painting the door of her house when she was brutally attacked by a 16 year old Palestinian terrorist.
She was repeatedly stabbed at the entrance to her home.
Knowing her children were inside, a few meters away, she heroically fought the terrorist.
Even as she was bleeding to death, she stopped him from pulling the knife from her body.
With her last ounce of strength, she made sure that the terrorist could not use the knife again to attack her six children.
The woman’s name was Dafna Meir.
Dafna was a hospital nurse from Otniel, a loving wife and a mother of six.
At her funeral, Dafna’s husband, Natan, said,
“You left me six treasures, I will keep them safe for you. My Dafna is one in a million. My Dafna, thank you for every moment I had with you”.
One of these treasures, Dafna’s eldest daughter, Renana said,
"I didn't just lose a mother, but also my best friend. It's hard for me to think we will not laugh together or fight anymore, that you won't accompany me down the aisle, and to the maternity ward.”
Today, Natan and Renana, are here with us in this chamber, sitting behind me.
They lost a wife and a mother.
They paid the most painful price.
We have to ask ourselves.
Why did this happen?
What drive a 16-year old boy to stab another human being to death?
The Palestinian teenager was arrested and he gave us the answer himself.
While he was confessing he said that what made him want to kill a Jew, any Jew, was a TV show on Palestinian television.
The Palestinian culture of hate and constant brainwashing is responsible for the loss of too many Israelis.
And it is directly responsible for the murder of Dafna Meir.
Mr. President,
It is time for real answers, it is time for the truth.
Since no one else will ask the hard questions, I will.
In the name of the people of Israel, in the name of the Israeli victims, and in the name of the family of Dafna Meir, let me ask the Palestinian representative here with us today.
Mr. Mansour,
Will you condemn Palestinians who commit terror attacks against Israelis?
You can do it right now.
We are being translated into five different languages.
Mr. President,
Silence can be deafening, but in our region silence kills.
It is time for the Palestinian leadership to end their silence and to start acting as leaders.
All of us around this table know what it takes to be a leader.
Leaders assume responsibility
Leaders speak out
Leaders educate.
For the sake of the next generation, this is the lesson the Palestinians must learn.
On the day Palestinian leaders, like Mr. Mansour, publicly condemn terror against Israelis, publicly.
On the day they end their campaign of hate and violence
On the day respect for all, all human life is taught in Palestinian schools
On that day, they will find a partner ready to work with them for the promise of peace.
The State of Israel and the people of Israel continue to hope that this day will come soon.
Thank you.