Israel, 2011

Israel has extended its

hand in peace from the moment it was established

63 years ago. On behalf of Israel and the Jewish

people, I extend that hand again today. I extend it to

the people of Egypt and Jordan, with renewed

friendship for neighbours with whom we have made

peace. I extend it to the people of Turkey, with respect

and goodwill. I extend it to the people of Libya and

Tunisia, with admiration for those trying to build a

democratic future. I extend it to the other peoples of

North Africa and the Arabian peninsula, with whom we

want to forge a new beginning. I extend it to the people

of Syria, Lebanon and Iran, with awe at the courage of

those fighting brutal repression.

Most especially, I extend my hand to the

Palestinian people, with whom we seek a just and

lasting peace.

In Israel, our hope for peace never wanes. Our

scientists, doctors and innovators apply their genius to

improving the world of tomorrow. Our artists and our

writers enrich the heritage of humanity. Now, I know

that this is not exactly the image of Israel that is often

portrayed in this Hall. After all, it was here in 1975 that

the age-old yearning of my people to restore our

national life in our ancient biblical homeland was

branded, shamefully, as racism. It was right here in

1980 that the historic peace agreement between Israel

and Egypt was not praised, but denounced. It is here,

year after year, that Israel is unjustly singled out for

condemnation. It is singled out for condemnation more

often than all the nations of the world combined.

Twenty-one out of 27 relevant General Assembly

resolutions condemn Israel, the one true democracy in

the Middle East.

This is an unfortunate part of the United Nations

institution. It is the theatre of the absurd. It not only

casts Israel as the villain, it often casts real villains in

leading roles. Al-Qadhafi’s Libya chaired the

Commission on Human Rights. Saddam’s Iraq headed

the Conference on Disarmament.

One might say that is the past. Well, here is what

is happening now — right now, today. Hizbullah-

controlled Lebanon now presides over the Security

Council. This means, in effect, that a terror

organization presides over the body entrusted with

guaranteeing the world’s security. One could not make

this up. Here in the United Nations, automatic

majorities can decide anything. They can decide that

the sun rises in the west. They can also decide — they

have decided — that the Western Wall in Jerusalem,

Judaism’s holiest place, is occupied Palestinian

territory.

Yet, even here in the General Assembly, the truth

can sometimes break through. In 1984, when I was

appointed Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, I

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visited the great rabbi of Lubavitch. He said to me —

and I do not want anyone here to be offended, because

from personal experience of serving here, I know there

are many honourable men and women, many capable

and decent people, serving their nations here — but

here is what the rebbe said to me. He said, “You will be

serving in a house of many lies”. And then he said,

“Remember that, even in the darkest place, the light of

a single candle can be seen far and wide”. Today I hope

that the light of truth will shine, if only for a few

minutes, in a Hall that for too long has been a place of

darkness for my country.

As Israel’s Prime Minister, I did not come here to

win applause. I came here to speak the truth. The truth

is that Israel wants peace. The truth is that I want

peace. The truth is that in the Middle East, at all times

but especially during these turbulent days, peace must

be anchored in security. The truth is that we can

achieve peace not through United Nations resolutions,

but only through direct negotiations between the

parties. The truth is that so far the Palestinians have

refused to negotiate. The truth is that Israel wants

peace with a Palestinian State, but the Palestinians

want a State without peace. The truth is that the

Assembly should not let that happen.

When I first came here 27 years ago, the world

was divided between East and West. Since then, the

Cold War ended, great civilizations have risen from

centuries of slumber, hundreds of millions have been

lifted out of poverty, countless more are poised to

follow, and the remarkable thing is that, so far, this

monumental historic shift has largely occurred

peacefully.

Yet a malignancy is now growing between East

and West that threatens the peace of all. It seeks not to

liberate, but to enslave; not to build, but to destroy.

That malignancy is militant Islam. It cloaks itself in the

mantle of a great faith, yet it murders Jews, Christians

and Muslims alike with unforgiving impartiality. On

11 September 2001, it killed thousands of Americans

and left the twin towers in smouldering ruins. Last

night, I laid a wreath on the 9/11 memorial. It was

deeply moving. However, as I was going there, one

thing echoed in my mind: the outrageous words of the

President of Iran at this rostrum yesterday. He implied

that 9/11 was an American conspiracy. Some left this

Hall; everyone should have.

Since 9/11, militant Islamists have slaughtered

countless other innocents in London and Madrid, in

Baghdad and Mumbai, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and

in every part of Israel. I believe that the greatest danger

facing our world is that this fanaticism will arm itself

with nuclear weapons, and that is precisely what Iran is

trying to do. Can we imagine that man who ranted here

yesterday armed with nuclear weapons?

The international community must stop Iran

before it is too late. If Iran is not stopped, we will all

face the spectre of nuclear terrorism, and the Arab

Spring could soon become an Iranian winter. That

would be a tragedy. Millions of Arabs have taken to the

streets to replace tyranny with liberty, and no one

would benefit more than Israel if those committed to

freedom and peace would prevail.

That is my fervent hope, but as the Prime

Minister of Israel, I cannot risk the future of the Jewish

State on wishful thinking. Leaders must see reality as it

is, not as it ought to be. We must do our best to shape

the future, but we cannot wish away the dangers of the

present.

The world around Israel is definitely becoming

more dangerous. Militant Islam has already taken over

Lebanon and Gaza. It is determined to tear apart the

peace treaties between Israel and Egypt and between

Israel and Jordan. It has poisoned many Arab minds

against Jews and Israel, and against America and the

West. It opposes not the policies of Israel but the

existence of Israel.

Now, some argue that if we want to slow down

the spread of militant Islam, especially in these

turbulent times, Israel must hurry to make concessions,

including territorial compromises. And this theory

sounds simple. Basically it goes like this: leave the

territory and peace will be advanced. The moderates

will be strengthened; the radicals will be kept at bay.

And do not worry about the pesky details of how Israel

will actually defend itself; international troops will do

the job.

These people say to me constantly, “Just make a

sweeping offer, and everything will work out”. There is

only one problem with that theory. We have tried it and

it has not worked. In 2000, Israel made a sweeping

peace offer that met virtually all the Palestinian

demands. Chairman Arafat rejected it. The Palestinians

then launched a terror attack that claimed 1,000 Israeli

lives.

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In 2008, Prime Minister Olmert afterwards made

an even more sweeping offer. President Abbas did not

even respond to it. But Israel did more than just make

sweeping offers. We actually left territory. We

withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 and from every square

inch of Gaza in 2005. That did not calm the militant

Islamic storm that threatens us. It only brought the

storm closer and made it stronger. Hizbullah and

Hamas fired thousands of rockets against our cities

from the very territories we had vacated.

When Israel left Lebanon and Gaza, the

moderates did not defeat the radicals; the moderates

were devoured by the radicals. And I regret to say that

international troops, including those of the United

Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the European

Union Border Assistance Mission in Gaza, did not stop

the radicals from attacking Israel.

We left Gaza hoping for peace. We did not freeze

the settlements in Gaza; we uprooted them. We did

exactly what the theory says. We got out, went back to

the 1967 borders and dismantled the settlements. I do

not think people remember how far we went to achieve

this. We uprooted thousands of people from their

homes. We pulled children out of their schools and

their kindergartens. We bulldozed synagogues. We

even moved loved ones from their graves. And then,

having done all that, we gave the keys of Gaza to

President Abbas.

The theory says that it should have all worked

out, and that President Abbas and the Palestinian

Authority could now build a peaceful state in Gaza. We

all remember that the entire world applauded our

withdrawal as an act of great statesmanship and a bold

act of peace. But we did not get peace. We got war. We

got Iran, which, through its proxy, Hamas, promptly

kicked out the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian

Authority collapsed in a day — in one day.

President Abbas just said from this rostrum that

the Palestinians are armed only with their hopes and

dreams. Yes, they are armed with their hopes, dreams

and 10,000 missiles and Grad rockets supplied by Iran,

not to mention the river of lethal weapons now flowing

into Gaza from the Sinai, from Libya and from

elsewhere.

Thousands of missiles have already rained down

on our cities. So it might be understand, given all this,

why Israelis rightly ask, “What is to prevent this from

happening again in the West Bank?” Most of the major

cities in the south of our country are within a few

dozen kilometres from Gaza, but in the centre of the

country opposite the West Bank, our cities are a few

hundred metres or at most a few kilometres from the

edge of the West Bank.

So I want to ask: Would anyone here bring danger

so close to their cities and families? Would they act so

recklessly with the lives of their citizens? Israel is

prepared to have a Palestinian State in the West Bank,

but we are not prepared to have another Gaza there.

And that is why we need to have real security

arrangements, which the Palestinians simply refuse to

negotiate with us.

Israelis remember the bitter lessons of Gaza.

Many of Israel’s critics ignore them. They

irresponsibly advise Israel to go down this same

perilous path again. We read what these people say and

it is as if nothing happened. They just repeat the same

advice and the same formulas as though none of this

happened. And these critics continue to press Israel to

make far-reaching concessions without first assuring

Israel’s security. They praise those who unwittingly

feed the insatiable crocodile of militant Islam as bold

statesmen. They cast as enemies of peace those of us

who insist that we must first erect a sturdy barrier to

keep the crocodile out, or at the very least jam an iron

bar between its gaping jaws.

So in the face of the labels and the libels, Israel

must heed better advice. It is better to receive bad press

than a good eulogy, and better still would be a fair

press whose sense of history extends beyond breakfast

and that recognizes Israel’s legitimate security

concerns. I believe that in serious peace negotiations,

these needs and concerns can be properly addressed,

but they will not be addressed without negotiations.

And the needs are many, because Israel is such a

tiny country. Without Judea and Samaria — the West

Bank — Israel is all of nine miles wide. I want to put

that in perspective for all of us in this city. It is about

two-thirds the length of Manhattan. It is the distance

between Battery Park and Columbia University. And

let us not forget that the people who live in Brooklyn

and New Jersey are considerably nicer than some of

Israel’s neighbours.

So how does one protect such a tiny country,

surrounded by people sworn to its destruction and

armed to the teeth by Iran? Obviously, one cannot

defend it from within that narrow space alone. Israel

39 11-51185

needs greater strategic depth, and that is exactly why

Security Council resolution 242 (1967) did not require

Israel to leave all of the territories it captured in the

Six-Day War. It talked about withdrawal from

territories to secure and defensible boundaries. And to

defend itself, Israel must therefore maintain a long-

term Israeli military presence in critical strategic areas

in the West Bank.

I explained this to President Abbas. He answered

that if a Palestinian State was to be a sovereign

country, it could never accept such arrangements. Why

not? The United States has had troops in Japan,

Germany and South Korea for more than a half a

century. Britain has an air base in Cyprus. France has

forces in three independent African nations. None of

those States claim that they are not sovereign countries.

There are many other vital security issues that

also must be addressed. Take the issue of airspace.

Again, Israel’s small dimensions create huge security

problems. The United States can be crossed by jet

airplane in six hours. To fly across Israel, it takes three

minutes. So is Israel’s tiny airspace to be chopped in

half and given to a Palestinian State not at peace with

Israel?

Our major international airport is a few

kilometres from the West Bank. Without peace, will

our planes become targets for anti-aircraft missiles

placed in the adjacent Palestinian State? And how will

we stop the smuggling into the West Bank? It is not

merely the West Bank; it is the West Bank mountains,

which dominate the coastal plain below where most of

Israel’s population sits. How could we prevent the

smuggling into those mountains of missiles that could

be fired at our cities?

I bring up these problems because they are not

theoretical problems. They are very real, and for

Israelis, they are life-and-death matters. All of these

potential cracks in Israel’s security have to be sealed in

a peace agreement before a Palestinian State is

declared, not afterwards, because if it is left until

afterwards they will not be sealed. And these problems

will explode in our face and explode the peace.

The Palestinians should first make peace with

Israel and then get their State. But I also want to say

this. After such a peace agreement is signed, Israel will

not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian State

as a new Member of the United Nations. We will be the

first.

There is one more thing. Hamas has been

violating international law by holding our soldier Gilad

Shalit captive for five years. They have not allowed

even one Red Cross visit. He is held in a dungeon, in

darkness, against all international norms. Gilad Shalit

is the son of Aviva and Noam Shalit. He is the

grandson of Zvi Shalit, who escaped the Holocaust by

coming to the land of Israel as a boy in the 1930s.

Gilad Shalit is the son of every Israeli family. Every

nation represented here should demand his immediate

release. If we want to adopt a resolution about the

Middle East today, that is the resolution we should

adopt.

Last year in Israel at Bar-Ilan University, and this

year in the Knesset and the United States Congress, I

laid out my vision for peace, in which a demilitarized

Palestinian State recognizes the Jewish State. Yes, the

Jewish State. After all, this is the body that recognized

the Jewish State 64 years ago. Now, does the Assembly

not think that it is about time that Palestinians did the

same?

The Jewish State of Israel will always protect the

rights of all of its minorities, including the more than

1 million Arab citizens of Israel. I wish I could say the

same thing about a future Palestinian State, for as

Palestinian officials made clear the other day — in

fact, I think they did so right here in New York — the

Palestinian State would not allow any Jews. They

would be Jew-free — Judenrein. That is ethnic

cleansing. There are laws today in Ramallah that make

the selling of land to Jews punishable by death. That is

racism. And the Assembly knows which laws this

evokes.

Israel has no intention whatsoever of changing

the democratic character of our State. We just do not

want the Palestinians to try to change the Jewish

character of our State. We want them to give up the

fantasy of flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians.

President Abbas just stood here and said that the

settlements lie at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian

conflicts. Well, that is odd. Our conflict was raging for

nearly half a century before there was a single Israeli

settlement in the West Bank. So, if what President

Abbas is saying was true, then I guess that the

settlements he is talking about are Tel Aviv, Haifa,

Jaffa and Be?er Sheva. Maybe that is what he meant the

other day when he said that Israel had been occupying

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Palestinian land for 63 years. He did not say from

1967; he said from 1948.

I hope that somebody will bother to ask him this

question, because it illustrates a simple truth. The core

of the conflict is not the settlements; the settlements

are a result of the conflict. The settlements are an issue

that has to be addressed and resolved in the course of

negotiations. But the core of the conflict has always

been, and unfortunately remains, the refusal of the

Palestinians to recognize a Jewish State within any

border.

I think it is time that the Palestinian leadership

recognize what every serious international leader from

Lord Balfour and David Lloyd George in 1917, to

President Truman in 1948, to President Obama just two

days ago right here, has recognized — that Israel is the

Jewish State.

I would ask President Abbas to stop walking

around this issue, recognize the Jewish State, and make

peace with us. In such a genuine peace, Israel is

prepared to make painful compromises. We believe that

the Palestinians should be neither the citizens of Israel

nor its subjects. They should live in a free State of their

own. But they should be ready, like us, for

compromise. And we will know that they are ready for

compromise and peace when they start taking Israel’s

security requirements seriously and when they stop

denying our historical connection to our ancient

homeland. I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing

Jerusalem. That is like accusing America of

Americanizing Washington, D.C., or the British of

Anglicizing London. Why are we called Jews? Because

we come from Judea.

In my office in Jerusalem, there is an ancient

seal. It is a signet ring of a Jewish official from the

time of the Bible. The seal was found right next to the

Western Wall and it dates back 2,700 years to the time

of King Hezekiah. Now, the name of a Jewish official

is inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was

Netanyahu. That is my last name. My first name,

Benjamin, can be traced back a 1,000 years to

Benjamin — Binyamin — the son of Jacob, who was

also known as Israel. Jacob and his 12 sons roamed

these same hills of Judea and Samaria 4,000 years ago,

and there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the

land ever since.

Those Jews who were exiled from our land —

Jews in Spain, on the eve of their expulsion; Jews in

Ukraine, fleeing the pogroms; Jews fighting in the

Warsaw Ghetto, as the Nazis were circling around it —

never stopped dreaming of coming back. They never

stopped praying, they never stopped yearning. They

whispered: “Next year in Jerusalem. Next year in the

promised land”.

As the Prime Minister of Israel, I speak for a

hundred generations of Jews who were dispersed

throughout the lands and suffered every evil under the

sun, but who never gave up hope of restoring their

national life in the one and only Jewish State.

I continue to hope that President Abbas will be

my partner in peace. I have worked hard to advance

that peace. The day I came into office, I called for

direct negotiations without preconditions. President

Abbas did not respond. I outlined a vision of peace of

two States for two peoples. He still did not respond. I

removed hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints to

ease freedom of movement in the Palestinian areas.

This facilitated fantastic growth in the Palestinian

economy. But again, there was no response. I took the

unprecedented step of freezing new building in the

settlements for 10 months. No Prime Minister had done

that before, ever. Once again, I hear applause, but there

was no response. No response.

In the past few weeks, American officials have

put forward ideas to restart peace talks. There were

things in those ideas about borders that I did not like.

There were things there about the Jewish State that I

am sure the Palestinians did not like. But despite all of

my reservations, I was willing to move forward on

those American ideas. Why does President Abbas not

join me? We have to stop negotiating about the

negotiations. Let us just get on with it. Let us negotiate

peace.

I spent years defending Israel on the battlefield. I

spent decades defending Israel in the court of public

opinion. President Abbas has dedicated his life to

advancing the Palestinian cause. Must this conflict

continue for generations, or will we enable our children

and our grandchildren to speak in the years ahead of

how we found a way to end it? That is what we should

aim for, and that is what I believe we can achieve.

In two and a half years, President Abbas and I

have met in Jerusalem only once, even though my door

has always been open to him. If he wishes, I will come

to Ramallah. Actually, I have a better suggestion. We

have both just flown thousands of miles to New York.

41 11-51185

Now we are in the same city; we are in the same

building. So let us meet here today, at the United

Nations. Who is there to stop us? What is there to stop

us? If we genuinely want peace, what is there to stop

us from meeting today and beginning peace

negotiations?

I suggest that we talk openly and honestly. Let us

listen to one another. Let us, as we say in the Middle

East, talk dugri. That means “straightforward”. I will

tell him my needs and concerns; he will tell me his.

And with God’s help, we will find the common ground

of peace.

There is an old Arab saying that one cannot

applaud with one hand. Well, the same is true of peace.

I cannot make peace alone. I cannot make peace

without an interlocutor. President Abbas, I extend my

hand — the hand of Israel — in peace. I hope that he

will grasp that hand. We are both the sons of Abraham.

My people call him Avraham; his people call him

Ibrahim. We share the same patriarch. We dwell in the

same land. Our destinies are intertwined. Let us realize

the vision of Isaiah: “The people who walk in darkness

will see a great light”. (The Holy Bible, Isaiah 9:2). Let

that light be the light of peace.