Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Israeli PM Begin
(July 19, 1977)
THE PRESIDENT. This is a very important day in the
history of our Nation and, I think, perhaps for the future of the Middle
East and perhaps even for the future of the world.
We have with us a very distinguished visitor, Prime
Minister Begin and his wife, Aliza. I'm particularly thrilled to have
them come here. We've had many distinguished visitors this year, but
he's the first one who comes as the head of a nation who is junior to
me. All the others have been Presidents or Prime Ministers or Kings
much longer. So, I welcome a chance to act as a senior statesman this
morning, Prime Minister Begin.
We also have very important questions to discuss between
us. We approach these conferences with deep common interests and with
a sincerity of purpose that naturally binds us together.
Prime Minister Begin represents a nation which has
just demonstrated again the importance of a true democracy where people
in an absolutely unconstrained expression of individual preference in
open elections can decide who their leader will be.
This has been a great test for Israel, and the orderly
transition of authority and responsibility from one political party
to another has been carried out not only with peace and cooperation
but, I think, with an enhancement of the confidence in the people of
Israel in the future.
I think, to me, having read the writings and biography
of our distinguished visitor this morning, there's a great parallel
between what Israel is, what it stands for, and what Prime Minister
Begin is and what he stands for. He's a man who has demonstrated a willingness
to suffer for principle, a man who has shown superlative personal courage
in the face of trial, challenge, disappointment, but who has ultimately
prevailed because of a depth of his commitment and his own personal
characteristics. And this is a strong parallel with what his nation
has been and is. He's a man of principle and a man of independence,
and the nation of Israel is a people of principle and independence.
One of the important personal characteristics about
Prime Minister Begin which I admire is his deep and unswerving religious
commitments. This has always been a guiding factor in his consciousness
and in his pursuit of unswerving goals. There's a quietness about him
which goes with determination and a fiery spirit in his expressions
of his beliefs to the public. And this is as it should be.
I was particularly impressed that the first official
action of his government was to admit into Israel 66 homeless refugees
from Vietnam who had been floating around in the oceans of the world,
excluded by many nations who are their neighbors, who had been picked
up by an Israeli ship and to whom he gave a home. It was an act of compassion,
an act of sensitivity, and a recognition of him and his government about
the importance of a home for people who are destitute and who would
like to express their own individuality and freedom in a common way,
again typifying the historic struggle of the people of Israel.
I've been encouraged by his statements that all the
points of dispute with his Arab neighbors are negotiable; that this
year might be a time of success in the so far frustrated efforts to
bring permanent peace and security into the Middle East.
We share that common project. And although there might
be differences of perspective and viewpoint between him and me, his
nation and the United States, that common goal of finding a path to
permanent peace will inevitably bind us together.
We are honored by his presence. We welcome him and
his wife as our visitors.
And I would like to close my comments of welcome to
him by quoting from Isaiah, from a Bible which he and I both read, given
to us by God, whom we both worship. Isaiah said: "And the work
of righteousness shall be peace, and the effects of righteousness, quietness
and assurance forever."
Thank you very much, and welcome, sir.
[At this point, the Prime Minister responded. His opening
remarks were in Hebrew, and the translation follows:]
THE PRIME MINISTER. Mr. President, I have come from
the land of Zion and Jerusalem as the spokesman for an ancient people
and a young nation. God's blessing on America, the hope of the human
race. Peace to your great nation.
[The Prime Minister continued in English.]
Mr. President, I have come to you as the spokesman
for an ancient people and a young renascent nation. In our own time
these people were strewn into the abyss. It had to extricate itself
from the depths of the pits with the last vestige of its strength through
an unequaled fight for national self-liberation of the few against the
many, of the weak against the strong, of right against might.
This is, Mr. President, the reason why we yearn for
peace, pray for peace, and shall do everything humanly possible and
make all the possible endeavors to bring about real peace between us
and our neighbors. Peace is inseparable from national security.
May I assure you, Mr. President, that to us that concept
is no excuse for anything; neither is it a cloak of anything. To us,
with the experience of physical annihilation and spiritual redemption,
national security may mean the lives of every man, woman, and child
in Israel. The lives can be, under certain circumstances, directly threatened
and put in jeopardy.
Mr. President, we in Israel see in you not only the
fair citizen of your great, mighty country, but also the leader and
the defender of the free world.
However, the free world has shrunk, indeed has been
shrinking. It can be likened in our time to an island battered by bitter
winds, by stormy seas, by high waves. Therefore, all free women and
men should stand together to persevere in the struggle for human rights,
to preserve human liberty, to make sure "that government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Mr. President, I am deeply grateful for the heartwarming
words you said to me and about me today, which I do not deserve. But
your appreciation is very dear to my wife and myself. We thank you.
You mentioned the decision by the Cabinet and myself
in Israel to give refuge and haven to the Vietnamese refugees saved
by an Israeli boat from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, threatened
with drowning and exposure.
It was a natural act to us, Mr. President. We remembered,
we have never forgotten that boat with 900 Jews, having left Germany
in the last weeks before the Second World War for Cuba. When they reached
the Cuban shores, their visas were declared nonvalid, and then they
were 9 months at sea, traveling from harbor to harbor, from country
to county, crying out for refuge. They were refused.
Eventually they went back to Europe. Some of them saved
their lives. The majority of them went to the gas chambers. We have
never forgotten the lot of our people, persecuted, humiliated, ultimately
physically destroyed. And therefore, it was natural that my first act
as Prime Minister was to give those people a haven in the land of Israel.
Mr. President, now we shall have Hebrews speaking Vietnamese
in our country.
I share your view that we stand together for human
liberty and dignity. And we may have difference of opinion, but we shall
never disagree; we may only agree to differ.
Mr. President, my wife and I are deeply grateful to
you and Mrs. Carter for the gracious hospitality you have bestowed upon
us. We do hope that not in too distant a future we may reciprocate in
Jerusalem. The people of Israel will receive you with an open and warm
heart and with the traditional hospitality all of us inherited from
old Abraham.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |