Israel, 2005

It is my unique pleasure to

praise His Excellency Ambassador Dan Gillerman, my

emissary to the United Nations, who is in the Chair at

present, upon his election to the post of Vice-President

at this session of the General Assembly, and to wish

him much success.

These are optimistic times in the Middle East.

The iron wall that has defined Israel's relations with

most of the Arab and Muslim world for generations, is

coming down. Israel's contacts with Arab and Muslim

States are growing at a rate never seen before.

Countries like Pakistan and others that in the past

refused to acknowledge our shared humanity, today

extend their hands in friendship and recognition.

Relations with key Muslim States, such as Turkey, are

flourishing, while our peaceful ties with both Egypt

and Jordan are constantly improving.

Here in New York this week, I have had the

honour of meeting with more than 10 of my colleagues

from the Arab and Muslim world - a number

unthinkable just two years ago. Those meetings have

been friendly, as is only fitting for countries that are

not in conflict - either territorially, or economically.

Israel welcomes this new readiness for contact, and we

encourage our neighbours to build on the foundations

that we are now laying. Contacts between Israel and its

Arab and Muslim neighbours are good for the region,

and good for peace.

We all share a common interest in building a

region of tolerance and cooperation - a region where

the moderates have the initiative, not the extremists,

whose violence has set the agenda for so long. Indeed,

those who genuinely wish to help the Palestinians and

to bring them the benefits of peace and prosperity must

realize that building contacts and cooperation with

Israel is a crucial element in that process.

Possibilities for cooperation abound. In fields as

diverse as agriculture, health, the environment,

transportation and electricity, the potential benefits of

Middle East regional cooperation are immense. Such

cooperation can bring tangible and immediate

economic benefits, as Israel's improving relations with

Jordan and Egypt have shown.

Unfortunately, many of our ties with the Arab and

Muslim world are still deep in the shadows, hidden

from the public eye. Today, I call on my Arab and

Muslim colleagues to bring our contacts out into the

light of day, so that our peoples may understand our

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shared desire to work with each other to bring peace

and prosperity to our region. I call on the leaders of the

Arab and Muslim world, to join us in speaking to our

populations of peace rather than conflict, of reasons to

cooperate, rather than reasons to boycott.

In November of this year, I will sit alongside my

Arab and Muslim colleagues at two international

gatherings: the World Summit on the Information

Society, in Tunisia; and the summit of the Euro-

Mediterranean Partnership, in Barcelona. I call upon

the international community and my Arab and Muslim

counterparts to work together with us to ensure that

those meetings result in concrete projects that will help

reinforce our peace efforts on the ground.

This is also the time for the international

community to renew its investment in the future of the

Middle East by reviving the multilateral track of the

Middle East peace talks.

Just one week ago, Israel completed the

evacuation of all Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip.

Entire families - many of whom had lived and tilled

those lands for three generations - were called upon

by their Government to leave and to begin their lives

anew. Today, there are no more Israelis in Gaza. Israeli

military rule is now over. Responsibility for the affairs

of Gaza and its residents is now in Palestinian hands.

Israel's actions have opened the door to a new future,

and we invite our neighbours to walk with us together

through that door.

We are committed to the road map, and we wish

to get back to its full implementation. To do that, we

need a partner. A partner who is committed, as we are,

to the peaceful resolution of our differences, and to the

democratic and universal principles on which peace is

founded.

Israel attaches great importance to the Palestinian

assumption of responsibility. In it lies the key to

progress towards peace. The transfer of responsibility

for Gaza provides the Palestinian side with the chance

to take their fate into their own hands; an opportunity

not just to say that they want to govern, but to show

that they are ready and able to do so. Gaza, we hope, will

serve as a model for how the Palestinian Authority can

build a functioning, democratic and peaceful society.

Recognizing the significance of this moment,

Israel is taking great pains to ensure that Palestinian

leader Mahmoud Abbas is given every opportunity to

establish his authority. We want to promote conditions

that will benefit ordinary Palestinians, without posing a

security threat to Israel.

Israel has expressed its strong support for

international aid and assistance for the social and

economic development of Gaza, and we are committed

to facilitating those efforts. Constructive international

engagement is crucial to the Palestinian Authority's

success. The international community's priority now

must be ensuring that the Palestinian Authority and its

institutions can deliver the services and outcomes their

people and ours expect and deserve.

Economic reconstruction, of course, is not

enough. The Palestinian Authority must also deliver on

its commitment to end the campaign of terror against

Israel. For Israel, security is an issue on which we will

never compromise. We insist on the end of terror and

the dismantlement of its infrastructure, for the safety of

our citizens, and so that our peace efforts can succeed.

Turning Gaza into a model of success requires

that the Palestinian Authority act to promote and

protect democracy from its enemies. Here, as with

security, there is no room for discounts. Simply

holding elections is no guarantee of moderation and

responsible government.

Two days ago in Gaza, the terrorist organization

Hamas held a rally of 10,000 armed men dedicated to a

holy war against Israel. Like Al-Qaida and the other

organizations in the global network of terror, Hamas

seeks to destroy everything that the international

community and the moderates in our region seek to

build: tolerance, democracy and peace. Hamas is

responsible for the deliberate murder of hundreds of

Israeli civilians, amongst them scores of women and

children. Israel cannot and will not grant legitimacy to

such an organization. We will not cooperate with its

desire to participate in the forthcoming Palestinian

elections. And we call on the international community

to make clear its own opposition to the inclusion of

such terrorists in the democratic process. If Gaza is

indeed to be the positive model we all wish to see, then

it is those who promote dialogue, not violence, who

must be empowered.

The central threat to global security and to

renewed momentum towards dialogue and peace in the

Middle East today is Iran and its nuclear ambitions. As

the speech before this Assembly by the newly elected

president of Iran so clearly demonstrated, Iran's fanatic

regime remains determined to proceed with its nuclear

weapons programme. Israel welcomes the efforts of the

international community - in particular France, Britain

and Germany, backed by the United States - to deny Iran

the ability to terrorize the world with nuclear weapons.

The Board of Governors of the International

Atomic Energy Agency is meeting at this very moment

in Vienna to discuss this urgent matter. I call on them

to stop this evil regime from acquiring nuclear

weapons. The security and stability of the entire globe

is at stake. This is why it is essential and urgent that

the Security Council take action. The international

community must rally as one and use all the means at

its disposal to stop Iran before it goes nuclear. We must

not allow the fate of mankind to rest in the hands of the

tyrants of Tehran.

In January of this year, this Assembly convened

in special session to commemorate the Holocaust and

pay tribute to the brave soldiers and nations who freed

European Jewry and the world from the calamity of

that darkest nightmare. Israel commends the

community of nations for standing up in unison on this

anniversary in commitment to the cry "never again".

We commend the Secretary-General's and this

Assembly's recognition that Holocaust remembrance

must be a universal commitment. Ultimately, it is only

the determined defence of the universal values of

tolerance and the sanctity of each human life that will

protect us from tyranny and extremism.

In this spirit, Israel calls on the General

Assembly to adopt a resolution initiated by Israel and

other like-minded countries commemorating the

Holocaust and calling for global educational efforts to

ensure that its lessons are learnt. Especially today, the

day the world's greatest Nazi-hunter, Simon

Wiesenthal, has passed away, we are reminded that the

Holocaust is passing from human memory to history.

As the generation of survivors leaves us, who will tell

their story, if not us?

The special session to commemorate the

Holocaust is only one example, of the welcome shift in

the attitude of this institution towards Israel. Our recent

election as Vice-President of this Assembly is another.

I wish to commend the Secretary-General for his

unique contribution to this positive trend. Israel's

relations with the United Nations are better today than

they have ever been. Nevertheless, they are still far

from what they should be.

I call on all the States gathered here to examine

how they too can contribute to promoting a more

balanced and constructive United Nations approach to

Israel. The United Nations cannot be true to its own

lofty and universal principles, if it continues to waste

scarce resources and serve as a forum of hostility and

prejudice against one of its own.

The United Nations was born of the noble vision

to bring the ideals of peace, security and human rights

to all peoples. Sadly, reality of the United Nations

remains far removed from the United Nations ideal.

Major reform is urgent and crucial. Israel joins our

fellow Member States and their peoples in the desire to

see the United Nations fulfil the vision of its founders;

to see the United Nations serving as a force for good in

meeting the many challenges of our age.

Israel seeks to take its rightful place as a country

with full and equal rights in this institution. We seek to

realize our full potential to contribute to the global

agenda. This is why I have decided to present for the

first time Israel's candidacy for membership on the

Security Council.

It was the wisest leader of ancient Israel, King

Solomon, who wrote, in the book of Ecclesiastes, "For

everything there is a season: a time to weep and a time

to laugh; ... a time to love and a time to hate; a time

for war and a time for peace." This is a time for peace.

A time for the leaders of the world to work together to

bring the blessings of opportunity, peace and prosperity

to all humanity.

As the Jewish New Year dawns upon us, I extend

on behalf of the Jewish people greetings of peace and

brotherhood to our Muslim and Arab neighbours and to

all nations.