Israel, 2007

Three thousand years ago, the

people of Israel journeyed from slavery in Egypt to

independence in the land of Israel. The Bible tells us

that on their voyage to liberty they made a crucial stop

and received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.

As the General Assembly gathers this year, the

Jewish people recall that historic journey by marking

the festival of Sukkot. And every year, at this time, our

people remember that the long march to freedom

requires the acceptance of humanity’s basic values.

For 60 years, since the rebirth of our State in our

ancient homeland, with Jerusalem at its heart, we have

not lost sight of this principle. The core values of

tolerance, coexistence and peace that lie at the heart of

every democracy must be protected within societies

and promoted between them. This is the calling of our

generation.

The conflict in our region is driven by those who

reject these core values those who seek power

without responsibility, those whose aim is not to

realize their own rights but to deny those rights for

others. At its heart, this is a conflict not about territory,

but about values.

There is, of course, a territorial dimension to our

dispute. We know this and, as we have proven in the

past, we are prepared for the territorial compromise

that lasting peace entails. But we also know, especially

after withdrawing from Lebanon and Gaza, that

territorial withdrawal by itself will not bring peace

unless we address the core clash of values that lies

beneath the conflict.

Israel may be on the front lines of this battle, but

it is not our fight alone. This is a global battle. The

notion that this battle is a local one, limited to isolated

regions, collapsed in this city with the twin towers on a

September morning six years ago. Today, it is clear that

the extremists are engaged in a bloody war against

civilians and communities, against hearts and minds, in

every corner of the world.

And it is clear, too, that the Middle East conflict

is not the cause of this global extremist agenda, but a

consequence of it. Yes, it is up to the parties in the

Middle East to settle their political conflict, and Israel,

for its part, desires to do so. But for success to be

genuine and lasting, you, the nations of the world, need

to be partners in a shared global struggle against the

extremism and terror that feed conflict, for your sake,

not just for ours.

It is in this spirit that I would like to speak today

about resolving our particular conflict, but also about

the wider battle being waged today the battle that

affects us all. This battle is global, not just because it

targets civilians everywhere, but also because the

extremists have taken aim at the fundamental pillars of

every modern society namely, democracy, tolerance

and education. These are the new battlefields of the

twenty-first century, and it is in these arenas, more than

any other, that the future of our world will be decided.

I believe in democracy. I believe in its

extraordinary power to produce free and peaceful

societies founded on respect for human rights.

Democracy is a profound ideal, but it is also a

vulnerable one.

Today, in different parts of the world, extremists,

who are opposed to the very ideals of democracy, are

entering the democratic process, not to abandon their

violent agenda but to advance it. As a spokesman for

Al-Qaida recently declared, “We will use your

democracy to destroy your democracy”. This should be

a wake-up call for all of us.

It is time to reclaim democracy, and this begins

by rejecting those who abuse it. Genuine democracy is

about values before it is about voting. No true

democracy on Earth allows armed militia or groups

with racist or violent agendas to participate in

elections. But some demonstrate a troubling double

standard. There are some who insist on high standards

in their own country but forget them when they look

abroad. Violent extremists who could never run for

office at home are treated as legitimate politicians

when elected elsewhere. As a result, we empower those

who use democratic means to advance anti-democratic

ends. And we strengthen the forces of those who not

only undermine their societies but also threaten our

own.

Today, from this podium, I call on the

international community to adopt at the global level

what democracies apply at the national one: a universal

set of standards for participation in genuine democratic

elections. We need a universal democratic code that

requires that all those seeking the legitimacy of the

democratic process earn it by respecting such

principles as State monopoly over the lawful use of

force, the rejection of racism and violence and the

protection of the rights of others.

The goal of such a universal code is not to dictate

our values or to stifle legitimate voices with which we

may disagree. Its goal is to protect core democratic

values from those determined to use the democratic

system against itself; and to make clear that

participation in the democratic process is not just a

right it is also a responsibility.

I know that the temptation to engage with

extremists can be strong. It may seem to promise

stability and quiet. We may hope that by feeding the

beast we can gradually tame it. As free societies, we

pride ourselves, rightly, on our respect for difference

and diversity. But we do a disservice to diversity when,

in its name, we tolerate the intolerant.

Bitter experience has shown that buying off

extremists is a short-term fix for which we will pay

dearly in the long run. Instead, groups such as Hamas

and Hizbullah must be presented with a clear choice

between the path of violence and the path of

legitimacy. They cannot have both. And it is this same

stark choice that must be presented to the radical

regime in Iran.

No responsible State disagrees that Iran is the

most prominent sponsor of terrorism. It is a major

source of instability and conflict in Iraq, Lebanon,

Palestine and across the entire Middle East; and it is

the enemy of Arab-Israeli coexistence. No one

disagrees that Iran denies the Holocaust and speaks

openly of its desire to wipe a Member State mine

off the map. And no one disagrees that, in violation of

Security Council resolutions, it is actively pursuing the

means to achieve this end.

But there are still those who, in the name of

consensus and engagement, continue to obstruct the

urgent steps that are needed to bring Iran’s sinister

ambitions to a halt. Too many see the danger, but they

walk idly by, hoping that someone else will take care

of it. What is the value, we have to ask, of an

organization which is unable to take effective action in

the face of a direct assault on the very principles it was

founded to protect?

It is time for the United Nations, and the States of

the world, to live up to their promise of never again, to

say enough is enough, to act now and to defend their

basic values. It is also time to see this same kind of

moral conviction in the Human Rights Council, so that

it can become a shield for the victims of human rights,

not a weapon for its abusers.

Israel has never tried to avoid genuine discussion

of its human rights record. But so long as the Council

maintains its wildly disproportionate focus on Israel, it

weakens the moral voice of the United Nations, and the

price of this blindness is paid by the victims of human

rights atrocities in Darfur and Myanmar and

throughout the world.

There is no more accurate forecast for the future

of a society than the lessons we teach our children.

Unfortunately, in our region, we see children’s

television programmes in which Mickey Mouse

puppets teach the glory of being a suicide bomber and

a seven-year old girl sings of her dreams of blood and

battle. Religion, rather than being a source of hope and

spiritual healing, is abused as a call to arms, as God is

dragged once again onto the field of battle.

It is time to reclaim religion from those who have

made it a weapon rather than a shelter. It is time to

reclaim education from those who use it as a tool of

hate rather than an opportunity. As always, the most

powerful form of education, and the hardest, is to teach

by example. We cannot expect our younger generation

to value what we are not prepared ourselves to protect

and pay a price for. And there is a price to pay. From

the leader who has to withstand public pressures. From

the businessman who has to forgo economic

opportunity. From the teacher and spiritual guide who

must find the inner strength to teach truth and tolerance

in a climate of extremism and hostility. At all levels of

society, there is a price to be paid. But if we do not pay

it today, we, and those who follow us, will face a far

greater bill tomorrow.

These thoughts are in my mind as we seek, today,

to advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian

reconciliation. Reconciliation is not about deciding

who was right or who was wrong in the past; it is about

sharing a common vision and a common responsibility

for the future. In the last months, Prime Minister

Olmert and President Abbas have been engaged in a

sincere and genuine effort to reach the widest possible

common ground on political understandings. There is

no substitute for the bilateral process. Failure is not an

option, but it is for the parties themselves to define

success. The foundation for true peace lies in the vision

of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side

in peace and security. The world shares this vision, but

it is also important that it clearly embrace the two core

principles that emerge from it.

The first of these principles is: two States, two

homelands. Just as Israel is homeland to the Jewish

people, so Palestine will be established as the

homeland and the national answer for the Palestinian

people, including the refugees.

The second is: living side by side in peace and

security. Just as a viable and prosperous Palestine in

the West Bank and Gaza is an Israeli interest, so must a

secure Israel be a Palestinian interest. The world

cannot afford another terror State.

Guided by these principles, the parties can define

a common border and turn the two-State vision from a

dream into reality. To succeed, we must set our sights

on a brighter future, while responding to the challenges

of the present and learning the lessons of the past. As

we make progress on concrete political understandings,

it is just as important to change the reality on the

ground to show Palestinians and Israelis that the

promise of peace exists in practice, not just on paper.

In recent months, Israel has taken tangible

measures to create a better environment, and we are

ready to do more. We know that Palestinian life is full

of day-to-day hardship. We know also, and only too

well, the burden of terror that Israelis bear and of our

primary obligation to their security. Together, we can

change this reality; we do not need to submit to it.

We are not naive. We can see the difficulties

ahead and the enemies of peace that stand in our way.

But practical progress is possible in those areas where

there is an effective Palestinian Government that

accepts the Quartet’s principles and implements,

alongside Israel, the existing Road Map obligations.

As the parties take the risks for peace, we look to

the international community and the Arab and Muslim

world to offer support, not to stipulate conditions. This

support comes in many forms. It comes through

economic and political assistance to the new

Palestinian Government committed to coexistence and

seeking to build the foundations of a peaceful and

prosperous State. It comes through the clear

endorsement of any political understandings reached

between the parties. It comes through enhancing and

deepening regional ties and cooperation between the

Arab world and Israel, while in parallel we advance

towards Israeli-Palestinian peace. And, finally, it

comes by confronting those determined to prevent us

from succeeding.

We must stand up to those who have no respect

for human life or human liberty, those who hold

captive soldiers - Gilad Shalit, Udi Goldwasser and

Eldad Regev - whose families are with us today and

whose pain remains always in our hearts.

We must stand up to those who, after we

withdrew from Gaza to give peace a chance, chose not

to build but to destroy and who choose, on a daily

basis, to target Israeli homes and kindergartens with

their missiles.

And we must stand up to those who see

democracy as a tool to advance hate, who see tolerance

as a one-way street and who see education as a means

of poisoning the minds of the next generation.

I believe that, despite all the obstacles, there is a

new moment of opportunity and an alliance of interest

that favours peace. Time is of the essence. We owe it to

ourselves and to our children to find both the courage

and the wisdom to make the right choices in the right

way.

On this festival of Sukkot, Jews commemorate

the journey from slavery to freedom by leaving their

homes to live in fragile huts, like the shelters in which

our ancestors lived on their way to the Promised Land.

For 3,000 years, these temporary huts, open to the

elements, have been a reminder that stability and

security are ensured not only by the structures that we

build but also by the values that we share. Perhaps it is

for this reason that the Sukkah, this fragile shelter, has

become the Jewish symbol of peace.

We turn to Jerusalem and say in our prayers every

day: Spread over us the canopy of your peace. May it

be in our days, and for all nations.