Israel PM Netanyahu Speech in Knesset On Memory of Yitzhak Rabin

PM Netanyahu’s Speech in the Knesset Session in Memory of Yitzhak Rabin

Translation 20/10/2010 Photo by GPO Yesterday I read the final speech given by Yitzhak Rabin from this podium.  It was a speech he gave on October 5, 1995, one month before that black day in the history of our people when he was slain by a vile murderer who cannot and will never be forgiven. My friends, I know all too well that one cannot reduce a political leader’s worldview down to one speech.  Every speech is the consequence of a certain reality, of a certain context and of a certain time. Nevertheless, certain aspects of Yitzhak Rabin’s final speech reverberate throughout the years, and have not lost any of their vitality or strength. In that speech, Yitzhak Rabin said: “The land of the prophets, which bequeathed to the world the values of morality, law and justice, was, after two thousand years, restored to its lawful owners -- the members of the Jewish people. On its land, we have built an exceptional national home and state.” “However, we did not return to an empty land. There were Palestinians here who struggled against us for a hundred wild and bloody years. Many thousands, on both sides,” he said, “were killed in the battle over the same land, over the same strip of territory, and were joined by the armies of the Arab states.” “We can continue to fight,” he said.  “We can continue to kill -- and continue to be killed. But we can also try to put a stop to this never-ending cycle of blood. We can also give peace a chance.” Yitzhak Rabin said, “We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” “We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.” “The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.” “Jerusalem,” Rabin said in his speech, would be “united as the capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty,” and “will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev”. “We came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.” “We know the chances. We know the risks. We will do our best to expand the chances and reduce the risks.” I hereby conclude the summation of Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Yitzhak Rabin’s final speech in this hall. These things were said 15 years ago, and naturally I have a great deal to add to them after so many years. But on this special day, I ask that the words and voice of Yitzhak Rabin echo and be heard without any additions and without interruption, other than two short remarks. The first brief remark is an obvious one regarding construction and the moratorium: I already said that the temporary construction moratorium was a gesture made by no other previous government, and I believe that Yitzhak Rabin’s words in this regard are an additional confirmation of this observation. In addition, construction in existing communities in Judea and Samaria does not contradict the aspiration for peace and an agreement. The second remark has to do with his reference to the Palestinian entity that would be established.  Yitzhak Rabin spoke of, and I quote: “less than a state”.  I do not know what he intended at the time.  Today, we say “a demilitarized state that recognizes the state of the Jewish people”.  We do not want to deny the Palestinians their right of self-definition.  We do not want to rule them. What we do want is that the Jewish state be recognized and protected.  Our insistence on security is not a whim and it is not an excuse.  We withdrew from Lebanon and Iran is sitting on the border.  We withdrew from Gaza and there, too, Iran is sitting on the border.  We cannot let this happen a third time. We can prevent it through real security arrangements and we must stand behind them.  I have no doubt that Yitzhak Rabin, as a man in the security field, would fully agree with this insistence.  I am not just saying this facetiously.  Because at the root of these statements, there is no argument about separation; there is no argument about peace.  But there is the legitimate and necessary question of what will happen the day after, and how we will ensure that what happened twice will not happen a third time.  We want peace. My friend, The years that passed narrowed the gaps and brought the positions of the various parts of the nation closer together.  This growing closeness may help us reach an agreement, but it does not mean that is only dependent on us here in Israel. However, one thing is certain: with unity or without it, with an agreement or without it, there is one clear and unequivocal statement regarding any disagreement between us: there is no room for violence like the kind that ended the life of the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, commander of the Six Day War, Palmach fighter, Jerusalemite – Yitzhak Rabin. Even after 15 years, we are still struck by grief and pain.  We will hope and pray, work and endeavor, so that the lesson will be learned and will never be forgotten.  We will act fearlessly and with determination to achieve peace and security for our nation, because only a true combination of the two will ensure our future. May the memory of Yitzhak Rabin be blessed.

ADL Foxman to Israel: Do Not Deport Foreign
Worker's Children

 Photo by: Courtesy

 

ADL leader visits Tel Aviv school, vows to fight government's decision to deport some 400 children of foreign workers.

Abe Foxman, the director of the US-based Anti-Defamation League, took a rare and tough stand against the government on Tuesday by vowing to fight its decision to deport some 400 children of foreign workers.

Foxman spoke during a visit to the Bialik Rogozin School in Tel Aviv to meet with children of foreign workers who attend the school, and hear their concerns over Israel’s looming deportation of their families and friends.

RELATED:
Yishai: 'I wouldn't leave one illegal family in Israel'
'Interior Ministry unprepared for child deportations'

In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, Foxman said he was struck by the irony of the situation, whereby the Jewish people, as embodied by the State of Israel, were about to expel children from the country, after centuries of Jews being similarly mistreated.

“Everything about the values of Israel and the Jewish people screams to us: Do not send these children away! The biblical injunction to treat the stranger in your midst as you treat your own rings loud and clear,” said Foxman.

He left the school pledging to present the children’s plight to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman and Interior Minister Eli Yishai when he meets them this week.

“Our goal is to fight in order to protect minorities against discrimination and educate people about tolerance and respect. I am here to make sure that the world knows about you and the dangers you are facing,” Foxman told a room of high school students, all children of foreign workers, some of whom are threatened with deportation. 

“I also want to tell you that you are not alone, that people care about you and want to act on your behalf,” he said. “We care about you, and in the spirit of Jewish values, we will do all we can to ensure that you remain in Israel.

“On an issue like this, where the well-being of 400 children is at stake, it is important for American Jews and American Jewish leaders to weigh in. And so I am here with you today in solidarity, not against the government of Israel but in standing up for what is best in the Jewish people, what is best in Jewish values, what is best in the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.”

Foxman urged the children to tell him about themselves and share both their hopes and fears of the future. After a short silence, one of the girls introduced herself as Ramet whose parents are from Turkey and who has been living in Israel for two years.

Ramet told Foxman about her desire to graduate from high school and serve in the IDF. She told him that her favorite subject in school was biology and she wants to study it in university, too.

“My mother works here as a cleaner and we were told that there is a very small chance that we will be allowed to stay here. It took us a month to get all our documents in order and present them to the Ministry of Interior, but our lawyer said that they would not be likely to let us stay here,” said Ramet.

“It hurt when he said that, because I really want to stay. It will be terrible if I have to go to Turkey. I don’t know the language and because we come from Israel, people there will hate us,” she said.

Foxman told her that he’d try to make sure that she and her mother have a chance to stay.

Kindness, a 16-year-old girl whose family is from Nigeria, asked Foxman to tell Yishai in their meeting that he should treat others like he would like to be treated himself. Foxman assured her that he would quote her directly to the minister.

The school’s principal, Karen Tal, told Foxman that the most important thing he could relay to Yishai was an invitation to come and visit the school.

“If he would come here in person, he would see that we don’t only talk about acceptance and tolerance, but that we live by it,” she said. “If he had the courage to come and meet the children, just him, without the cameras and the advisers, he would see that these children are just like everybody else, and there is no way he would go ahead with the cruel decision to expel them.”

Foxman made clear that he respected Israel’s sovereign right to determine its immigration policies, but also said that on matters such as these, where the well-being of children is at stake, it is important for American Jews and American Jewish leaders to weigh in.

Foxman said that in his meetings with Netanyahu and Yishai he would try to convey the importance of showing compassion.

“The world will be quick to misunderstand this issue. Israelis may see it as a matter of enforcing government policies, but people out there who choose to see Israel as an apartheid state will see the act of deportation as evidence of discrimination.

“Israel’s incredible record of absorbing new immigrants and tolerating differences will be overshadowed by this one act.

The law is important, but justice and mercy must also be considerations,” said Foxman.

When asked what he could tell Yishai about the children’s plight that he hadn’t heard before, Foxman shrugged and said that he would talk to him in his own way.

“I will tell him that I lead an organization that loves and supports Israel, but that I think that he is mistaken. That’s what I told Netanyahu about the loyalty oath, and he reversed his decision.

I will also pass on to Yishai the invitation issued by the principal.

Like her, I’m convinced that after a visit of an hour or two, he himself will do anything to let them stay.”

Foxman said that the issue of the foreign workers proved that Israel was not immune to societal problems.

“Just because we suffered from bigotry and racism, doesn’t mean we are vaccinated from them, but I do hope it means that we can overcome them,” he said.

In August, the ADL issued a statement calling on the government to “gather in” the 400 children of foreign workers who failed to meet its criteria for permanent residence and allow them to stay, together with their families.

In Ra'anana, Israel: Today a Beautiful, Little Girl Celebrates Her 10th Birthday!!!

Today A Beautiful, Little Girl Celebrates Her 10th Birthday

She will have everything.


Sweets, gifts, food, friends, balloons, relatives, songs, games, kisses and
hugs.


Everything ..... except a father!


The loving, caring, responsible father who pays child support was taken away
from his sweet daughter by her mother and her brother-in-law Harel Feder who
manages the Feder Law firm on false, vicious and destructive charges of child
abuse.


The family court did not investigate.


The father was found guilty without due process and sentenced to see his own
child for one hour in three weeks.


And "supervised" visits.


Revacha - did nothing.


They could have made a psychological accessment of the father and interviewed his daughter.


They could have had a forensics psychologist interview the mother.


This is Gender Bias Discrimination.


The mother, the Kfar Sava Family Court, Ra'anana Department of Child Welfare and Ra'anana Mayor Nachum Hofree can wish this little girl a Happy 10th Birthday.


But her father can't!


If you believe that an injustice has been done here to our children.


That a total lack of due process under the law is unacceptable in destroying a parent / child relationship, please write to:

ornal@raanana.muni.il, michalfr@raanana.muni.il, liorad@raanana.muni.il, nahumh@raanana.muni.il, shefi@raanana.muni.il

The Children of Ra'anana, Israel Deserve Better

Children Need BOTH Parents

www.fathers-4-justice.org

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4877845469