Speech to Joint Session of Congress
(May 24, 2006)
On behalf of the people and State of Israel,
I wish to express my profound gratitude to you for
the privilege of addressing this Joint Meeting of the
US Congress. This building, this chamber, and all of
you stand as testament to the enduring principles of
liberty and democracy.
More than 30 years ago, I came to Washington as a
young legislator, thanks to a program sponsored by
the State Department. I had a chance to tour this building,
and I saw then what I believe today - that this institution,
the United States Congress, is the greatest deliberative
body in the world. I did not imagine then, that a day
would actually come, when I would have the honor of
addressing this forum as the Prime Minister of my nation,
the State of Israel.
The United States is a superpower whose influence
reaches across oceans and beyond borders. Your continued
support, which, I am happy to say, transcends partisan
affiliations, is of paramount importance to us. We
revere the principles and values represented by your
great country, and are grateful for the unwavering
support and friendship we have received from the US
Congress, from President George W. Bush and from the
American people.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "I am a success today
because I had a friend who believed in me, and I didn't
have the heart to let him down."
Israel is grateful that America believes in us. Let
me assure you that we will NOT let you down.
The similarities in our economic, social and cultural
identities are obvious, but there's something much
deeper and everlasting. The unbreakable ties between
our two nations extend far beyond mutual interests.
They are based on our shared goals and values stemming
from the very essence of our mutual foundations.
This coming Monday, the 29th of May, you commemorate
Memorial Day for America's fallen. The graves of brave
American soldiers are scattered throughout the world:
in Asia and in the Pacific, throughout Europe and Africa,
in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. The pain of
the families never heals, and the void they leave is
never filled.
It is impossible to think of a world in which America
was not there, in the honorable service of humanity.
On Monday, when the Stars and the Stripes are lowered
to half-mast, we, the people of Israel, will bow our
heads with you.
Our two great nations share a profound belief in the
importance of freedom and a common pioneering spirit
deeply rooted in optimism. It was the energetic spirit
of our pioneers that enabled our two countries to implement
the impossible. To build cities where swamps once existed
and to make the desert bloom.
My parents Bella and Mordechai Olmert were lucky… They
escaped the persecution in Ukraine and Russia and found
sanctuary in Harbin, China. They immigrated to Israel
to fulfill their dream of building a Jewish and democratic
state living in peace in the land of our ancestors.
My parents came to the Holy Land following a verse
in the Old Testament in the book of second Samuel "I
will appoint a place for my people Israel and I will
plant them in their land and they will dwell in their
own place and be disturbed no more".
Distinguished members of Congress, I come here - to
this home of liberty and democracy - to tell you that
my parents' dream, our dream, has only been partly
fulfilled. We have succeeded in building a Jewish democratic
homeland. We have succeeded in creating an oasis of
hope and opportunity in a troubled region. But there
has not yet been one year… one week… even
one day… of peace in our tortured land.Our Israeli
pioneers suffered, and their struggle was long and
hard. Yet even today, almost 60 years after our independence,
that struggle still endures. Since the birth of the
state of Israel and until this very moment, we have
been continually at war and amidst confrontation. The
confrontation has become even more violent, the enemy
turned even more inhumane due to the scourge of suicide
terrorism. But we are not alone. Today, Israel, America,
Europe, and democracies across the globe, unfortunately,
face this enemy.
Over the past six years more than 20,000 attempted
terrorist attacks have been initiated against the people
of Israel. Most, thankfully, have been foiled by our
security forces. But those which have succeeded have
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians… and
the injury of thousands - many of them children guilty
ONLY of being in what proved to be the wrong place
at the wrong time.
These are not statistics…. These are real people
with beautiful souls that have left this earth far
too soon.
In the decade I served as mayor of my beloved City,
Jerusalem, we faced the lion's share of the seemingly
endless wave of terrorism.
I remember Galila, a twelve year old girl, an Ethiopian
immigrant, whose parents worked in the King David Hotel.
On one particular morning, Galila's parents' fear of
their daughter taking the bus overwhelmed them, and
they asked to drive her to school. She refused, assuring
her parents "Don't worry, I know where it is safe
to sit". She found a seat she thought was safe.
Unfortunately, a suicide bomber ascended that very
bus Galila was on and exploded himself right next to
her.
When I visited her grieving parents, Galila's mother
came to me and pleaded "you are the mayor of
Jerusalem. Please find me some item, anything, of remembrance
belonging to my daughter, even a shoelace". I
did everything a mayor could do, checking repeatedly
with the police, insisting that they continue to scour
the wreckage of the burned out bus. But the police
confirmed the terrible truth: not even a shoelace could
be found.
Among the victims of this brutal and unremitting terror,
I am sorry to tell you, are also American citizens.
Only last week, Daniel Cantor Wultz, a 16 year old
high school student from Weston, Florida, who came
to spend the Passover holiday with his parents in Israel,
succumbed to his sever injuries, incurred in Israel's
most recent suicide attack.
I asked Daniel's parents and sister, Yekutiel, Sheryl
and Amanda Wultz, who only finished the traditional
period of mourning two days ago, to be with us here
today. Daniel was a relative of Congressman Eric Cantor
of Virginia, an honorable member of this house. Our
thoughts and prayers are with you.
I bring Galila's memory, Daniel's memory, and the
loss of so many others, with me to my new post as Prime
Minister. I also bring with me the horrific scenes
I saw with my own eyes when I visited New York just
a few days after the devastating attacks on September
11th. A tragedy that transcends any other terrorist
attack that has ever occurred.
As I told my good friend Rudy Giuliani, on that dreadful
day, our hearts went out to you. Not only because of
the friendship between us, but because, tragically
and personally, we both know what it is to confront
the evil of terrorism at home.
Our countries do not just share the experience and
pain of terrorism. We share the commitment and resolve
to confront the brutal terrorists that took these innocent
people from us. We share the commitment to extract
from our grief a renewed dedication to providing our
people with a better future.Let me state this as clearly
as I can: we will NOT yield to terror…we will
NOT surrender to terror….. and we WILL WIN the
war on terror and restore peace to our societies.
The Palestinian Authority is ruled by Hamas - an organization
committed to vehement anti-Semitism, the glorification
of terror and the total destruction of Israel. As long
as these are their guiding principles, they can never
be a partner.
Therefore, while Israel works to ensure that the humanitarian
needs of the Palestinian population are met, we can
never capitulate to terrorists or terrorism. I pay
tribute to the firmness and the clarity with which
the President and this Congress uphold this crucial
principle which we both firmly share.
Israel commends this Congress for initiating the Palestinian
Anti-Terrorism Act which sends a firm clear message
that the United States of America will not tolerate
terrorism in any form.
Like America, Israel seeks to rid itself of the horrors
of terrorism. Israel yearns for peace and security.
Israel is determined to take responsibility for its
own future and take concrete steps to turn its dreams
into reality. The painful but necessary process of
Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria
was an essential step.
At this moment, my thoughts turn especially to the
great leader, who, in normal circumstances, should
have stood here. Ariel Sharon, the legendary statesman
and visionary, my friend and colleague, could not be
here with us but I am emboldened by the promise of
continuing his mission. I pray, as I am sure you all
do too, for his recovery.
Ariel Sharon is a man of few words and great principles.
His vision and dream of peace and security transcended
time, philosophy and politics. Israel must still meet
the momentous challenge of guaranteeing the future
of Israel as a democratic state with a Jewish majority,
within permanent and defensible borders and a united
Jerusalem as its capital - that is open and accessible
for the worship of all religions.
This was the dream to which Ariel Sharon was loyally
committed. This was the mission he began to fulfill.
It is the goal and the purpose of the Kadima party
that he founded and to which I was the first to join.
And it is this legacy of liberty, identity and security
that I embrace. It is what I am working towards. It
is what I am so passionately hoping for.
Although our government has changed, Israel's goal
remains the same. As Prime Minister Sharon clearly
stated: "The Palestinians will forever be our
neighbors. They are an inseparable part of this land,
as are we. Israel has no desire to rule over them,
nor to oppress them. They too have a right for freedom
and national inspirations."
With the vision of Ariel Sharon guiding my actions,
from this podium today, I extend my hand in peace to
Mahmoud Abbas, elected President of the Palestinian
Authority. On behalf of the State of Israel, we are
willing to negotiate with a Palestinian Authority.
This authority must renounce terrorism, dismantle the
terrorist infrastructure, accept previous agreements
and commitments, and recognize the right of Israel
to exist.
Let us be clear: peace, without security, will bring
neither peace nor security.
We will not, we cannot, compromise on these basic
tests of partnership.
With a genuine Palestinian partner for peace, I believe
we can reach an agreement on all the issues that divide
us. Our past experience shows us it is possible to
bridge the differences between our two peoples. I believe
this - I KNOW THIS - because we have done it before,
in our peace treaties with Egypt and with Jordan. These
treaties involved painful and difficult compromises.
It required Israel to take real risks.But if there
is to be a just, fair and lasting peace, we need a
partner who rejects violence and who values life more
than death. We need a partner that affirms in action,
not just in words, the rejection, prevention and elimination
of terror.
Peace with Egypt became possible only after President
Anwar Sadat came to our Knesset and declared, once
and for all, "No more war and no more bloodshed." And
peace with Jordan became possible only after the late
King Hussein, here in Washington, declared the end
of the state of belligerency, signed a peace treaty
with us, and wholeheartedly acknowledged Israel's right
to exist.
The lesson for the Palestinian people is clear. In
a few years they could be living in a Palestinian state,
side by side in peace and security with Israel. A Palestinian
State which Israel and the international community
would help thrive.
But no one can make this happen for them if they refuse
to make it happen for themselves.
For thousands of years, we Jews have been nourished
and sustained by a yearning for our historic land.
I, like many others, was raised with a deep conviction
that the day would never come when we would have to
relinquish parts of the land of our forefathers. I
believed, and to this day still believe, in our people's
eternal and historic right to this entire land.
But I also believe that dreams alone will not quiet
the guns that have fired unceasingly for nearly a hundred
years. Dreams alone will not enable us to preserve
a secure democratic Jewish state.
Jews all around the world read in this week's Torah
portion: "And you will dwell in your land safely
and I will give you peace in the land, and there shall
be no cause for fear neither shall the sword cross
through the Promised Land".
Painfully, we the people of Israel have learned to
change our perspective. We have to compromise in the
name of peace, to give up parts of our promised land
in which every hill and valley is saturated with Jewish
history and in which our heroes are buried. We have
to relinquish part of our dream to leave room for the
dream of others, so that all of us can enjoy a better
future. For this painful but necessary task my government
was elected. And to this I am fully committed.
We hope and pray that our Palestinian neighbors will
also awaken. We hope they will make the crucial distinction
between implementing visions that can inspire us to
build a better reality, and mirages that will only
lead us further into the darkness. We hope and pray
for this, because no peace is more stable than one
reached out of mutual understanding not just for the
past but for the future.
We owe a quiet and normal life to ourselves, our children
and our grandchildren. After defending ourselves for
almost 60 years against attacks, all our children should
be allowed to live free of fear and terror.
And so I ask of the Palestinians: How can a child
growing up in a Culture of Hate dream of the possibility
of peace? It is so important that all schools and all
educational institutions in the region teach our children
to be hate-free.
The key to a true lasting peace in the Middle East
is in the education of the next generation.
So let us today call out to all peoples of the Middle
East: replace the Culture of Hate with an outlook of
hope.
It is three years since the Road Map for Peace was
presented. The Road Map was and remains the right plan.
A Palestinian leadership that fulfils its commitments
and obligations will find us a willing partner in peace.
But if they refuse, we will not give a terrorist regime
a veto over progress, or allow it to take hope hostage.We
cannot wait for the Palestinians forever. Our deepest
wish is to build a better future for our region, hand
in hand with a Palestinian partner, but if not, we
will move forward, but not alone.
We could never have implemented the Disengagement
plan without your firm support. The Disengagement could
never have happened without the commitments set out
by President Bush in his letter of April 14, 2004,
endorsed by both houses of Congress in unprecedented
majorities. In the name of the People of Israel, I
thank President Bush for this commitment and for his
support and friendship.
The next step is even more vital to our future and
to the prospects of finally bringing peace to the Middle
East. Success will only be possible with America as
an active participant, leading the support of our friends
in Europe and across the world.
Should we realize that the bilateral track with the
Palestinians is of no consequence, should the Palestinians
ignore our outstretched hand for peace, Israel will
seek other alternatives to promote our future and the
prospects of hope in the Middle East. At that juncture,
the time for realignment will occur.
Realignment would be a process to allow Israel to
build its future without being held hostage to Palestinian
terrorist activities. Realignment would significantly
reduce the friction between Israelis and Palestinians
and prevent much of the conflict between our two battered
nations.
The goal is to break the chains that have tangled
our two peoples in unrelenting violence for far too
many generations. With our futures unbound peace and
stability might finally find its way to the doorsteps
of this troubled region.
Mr. Speaker,
Allow me to turn to another dark and gathering storm
casting its shadow over the world….
Every generation is confronted with a moment of truth
and trial. From the savagery of slavery, to the horrors
of World War Two, to the gulags of the Communist Bloc.
That which is right and good in this world has always
been at war with the horrific evil permitted by human
indifference.
Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror, and a
notorious violator of fundamental human rights, stands
on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. With these
weapons, the security of the entire world is put in
jeopardy.
We deeply appreciate America's leadership on this
issue and the strong bipartisan conviction that a nuclear-armed
Iran is an intolerable threat to the peace and security
of the world. It cannot be permitted to materialize.
This Congress has proven its conviction by initiating
the Iran Freedom and Support Act. We applaud these
efforts.
A nuclear Iran means a terrorist state could achieve
the primary mission for which terrorists live and die:
the mass destruction of innocent human life. This challenge,
which I believe is The Test of Our Time, is one the
West cannot afford to fail.
The radical Iranian regime has declared the United
States its enemy. Its President believes it is his
religious duty and his destiny to lead his country
in a violent conflict against the infidels. With pride
he denies the Jewish Holocaust and speaks brazenly,
calling to wipe Israel off the map.
For us, this is an existential threat. A threat to
which we cannot consent. But it is not Israel's threat
alone. It is a threat to all those committed to stability
in the Middle East and the well being of the world
at large.
Mr. Speaker, our moment is NOW. History will judge
our generation by the actions we take NOW…by
our willingness to stand up for peace and security
and freedom, and by our courage to do what is right.The
international community will be measured not by its
intentions but by its results. The international community
will be judged by its ability to convince nations and
peoples to turn their backs on hatred and zealotry.
If we don't take Iran's bellicose rhetoric seriously
now, we will be forced to take its nuclear aggression
seriously later.
Mr. Speaker,
The true Israel is not one you can understand through
the tragic experiences of the complex geopolitical
realities. Israel has impressive credentials in the
realms of science, technology, high-tech and the arts
and many Israelis are Nobel Prizes laureates in various
fields.
A land with limited resources, eager to facilitate
cooperation with the United States, Israel devotes
its best and brightest scientists to Research and Development
for new generations of safe, reliable, efficient and
environmentally friendly sources of energy. Both our
countries share a desire for energy security and prevention
of global warming. Therefore, through the United States
- Israel energy cooperation act and other joint frameworks,
in collaboration with our US counterparts, Israel will
increase its efforts to find advanced scientific and
technological solutions, designed to develop new energy
sources and encourage conservation.
Just one example of Israel's remarkable achievements
is the recent 4 billion dollar purchase by an American
company of Israel's industrial giant Iscar. This is
an important endorsement of the Israeli economy, which
has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any country
other than the United States and Canada. It is also
a vote of confidence in Israel's strategic initiative
to enhance the economic and social development of our
Negev and Galilee regions.
But above all it is recognition that what unites us,
Israel and America, is a commitment to tap the greatest
resource of all - the human mind and the human spirit.
We believe in the moral principles shared by our two
nations and they guide our political decisions.
We believe that life is sacred and fanaticism is not.
We believe that every democracy has the right and
the duty to defend its citizens and its values against
all enemies.
We believe that terrorism not only leads to war but
that terrorism is war. A war that must be won every
day. A war in which all men and women of goodwill must
be allies.
We believe that peace among nations remains not just
the noblest ideal but a genuine reality.
We believe that peace, based on mutual respect, must
be and is attainable in the near future.
We, as Jews and citizens of Israel, believe that our
Palestinian neighbors want to live in peace. We believe
that they have the desire, and hopefully the courage,
to reject violence and hatred as means to attain national
independence.
The Bible tells us that as Joshua stood on the verge
of the Promised Land, he was given one exhortation:
'Chazak Ve'ematz' 'Be strong and of good courage".
Strength, without courage, will only lead to brutality.
Courage, without strength, will only lead to futility.
Only genuine courage and commitment to our values,
backed by the will and the power to defend them, will
lead us forward in the service of humanity.
To the Congress of the United States and to the great
people of America, I wish to say 'Chazak Ve'ematz'
be strong and of good courage, and we, and all peoples
who cherish freedom, will be with you.
And God Bless America,
Thank you.
Sources: Prime Minister's Office |