Thank you. Wow, 16,000 people. Anyone here from California? Florida? New
York? Well, these are the easy ones. How about Colorado? Indiana? I think I got
it. Montana? Texas? You’re here in record numbers. You’re here from coast to
coast, from every part of this great land. And you’re here at a critical time.
You’re here to tell the world that reports of the demise of the Israeli-U.S.
relations are not only premature, they’re just wrong. You’re here to tell the
world that our alliance is stronger than ever. And because of you, and millions
like you, across this great country, it’s going to get even stronger in the
coming years. Thank you Bob Cohen, Michael Kassen, Howard Kohr and all the
leadership of AIPAC. Thank youfor your tireless, dedicated work to strengthen
the partnership between Israel and the United States. I want to thank,most
especially, Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans. I deeply appreciate
your steadfast support for Israel, year in, year out. You have our boundless
gratitude. I want to welcome President Zeman of the Czech Republic.Mr.
President, Israel never forgets its friends. And the Czech people have always
been steadfast friends of Israel, the Jewish people, from the days of Thomas
Masaryk at the inception of Zionism. You know, Mr. President, when I entered
the Israeli army in 1967, I received a Czech rifle.That was one of the rifles
that was given to us by your people in our time of need in 1948. So thank you
for being here today. Also here are two great friends of Israel, former Prime
Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznarand as of last month, former Canadian Foreign
Minister John Baird.Thank you both for your unwavering support. You are true
champions of Israel, and you are, too, champions of the truth. I also want to
recognize the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, for your genuine
friendship, Dan,and for the great job you’re doing representing the United
States and the State of Israel. And I want to recognize the two Rons. I want to
thank Ambassador Ron Prosor for the exemplary job he’s doing at the U.N. in a
very difficult forum. And I want to recognize the other Ron, a man who knows
how to take the heat, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer.Ron,
I couldn’t be prouder to have you representing Israel in Washington. And
finally, I want to recognize my wife, Sara, whose courage in the face of
adversity is an inspiration to me.Sara divides her time as a child
psychologist, as a loving mother, and her public duties as the wife of the
prime minister.Sara, I’m so proud to have you here with me today, to have you
with me at my side always. My friends, I bring greetings to you from Jerusalem,
our eternal undivided capital. And I also bring to you news that you may not
have heard. You see, I’ll be speaking in Congress tomorrow. You know, never has
so much been written about a speech that hasn’t been given.And I’m not going to
speak today about the content of that speech, but I do want to say a few words
about the purpose of that speech. First, let me clarify what is not the purpose
of that speech. My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President
Obama or the esteemed office that he holds. I have great respect for both. I
deeply appreciate all that President Obama has done for Israel,security
cooperation, intelligence sharing, support at the U.N., and much more, some
things that I, as prime minister of Israel, cannot even divulge to you because
it remains in the realm of the confidences that are kept between an American
president and an Israeli prime minister.I am deeply grateful for this support,
and so should you be. My speech is also not intended to inject Israel into the
American partisan debate. An important reason why our alliance has grown
stronger decade after decade is that it has been championed by both parties and
so it must remain. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have worked
together with friends from both sides of the aisle in Congress to strengthen
Israel and our alliance between our two countries, and working together, they
have provided Israel with generous military assistance and missile defense
spending. We’ve seen how important that is just last summer. Working together,
they’ve made Israel the first free trade partner of America 30 years ago and
its first official strategic partner last year. They’ve backed Israel in
defending itself at war and in our efforts to achieve a durable peace with our
neighbors. Working together has made Israel stronger; working together has made
our alliance stronger. And that’s why the last thing that anyone who cares
about Israel,the last thing that I would want is for Israel to become a
partisan issue. And I regret that some people have misperceived my visit here
this week as doing that. Israel has always been a bipartisan issue. Israel
should always remain a bipartisan issue. Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of
my address to Congress tomorrow is to speak up about a potential deal with Iran
that could threaten the survival of Israel. Iran is the foremost state sponsor
of terrorism in the world. Look at that graph. Look at that map. And you see on
the wall, it shows Iran training, arming,dispatching terrorists on five
continents. Iran envelopes the entire world with its tentacles of terror. This
is what Iran is doing now without nuclear weapons. Imagine what Iran would do
with nuclear weapons. And this same Iran vows to annihilate Israel. If it
develops nuclear weapons, it would have the means to achieve that goal. We must
not let that happen. And as prime minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation
to speak up in the face of these dangers while there’s still time to avert
them. For 2000 years, my people, the Jewish people, were stateless, defenseless,
voiceless. We were utterly powerless against our enemies who swore to destroy
us. We suffered relentless persecution and horrific attacks. We could never
speak on our own behalf, and we could not defend ourselves. Well, no more, no
more. The days when the Jewish people are passive in the face of threats to
annihilate us, those days are over.Today in our sovereign state of Israel, we
defend ourselves. And being able to defend ourselves, we ally with others, most
importantly, the United States of America, to defend our common civilization
against common threats. In our part of the world and increasingly, in every
part of the world, no one makes alliances with the weak. You seek out those who
have strength, those who have resolve, those who have the determination to
fight for themselves. That’s how alliances are formed. So we defend ourselves
and in so doing, create the basis of a broader alliance. And today, we are no
longer silent; today, we have a voice.And tomorrow, as prime minister of the
one and only Jewish state, I plan to use that voice. I plan to speak about an
Iranian regime that is threatening to destroy Israel, that’s devouring country
after country in the Middle East, that’s exporting terror throughout the world
and that is developing, as we speak, the capacity to make nuclear weapons, lots
of them. Ladies and gentlemen, Israel and the United States agree that Iran
should not have nuclear weapons, but we disagree on the best way to prevent
Iran from developing those weapons. Now disagreements among allies are only
natural from time to time, even among the closest of allies. Because they’re
important differences between America and Israel. The United States of America
is a large country,one of the largest. Israel is a small country, one of the
smallest. America lives in one of the world’s safest neighborhoods. Israel
lives in the world’s most dangerous neighborhood. America is the strongest
power in the world. Israel is strong, but it’s much more vulnerable. American
leaders worry about the security of their country. Israeli leaders worry about
the survival of their country. You knowI think that encapsulates the
difference. I’ve been prime minister of Israel for nine years. There’s not a
single day, not one daythat I didn’t think about the survival of my country and
the actions that I take to ensure that survival, not one day. And because of
these differences, America and Israel have had some serious disagreements over
the course of our nearly 70-year-old friendship. Now, it started with the
beginning. In 1948, Secretary of State Marshall opposed David Ben-Gurion’s
intention to declare statehood.That’s an understatement. He vehemently opposed
it. But Ben-Gurion,understanding what was at stake, went ahead and declared
Israel’s independence. In 1967, as an Arab noose was tightening around Israel’s
neck,the United States warned Prime Minister Levi Eshkol that if Israel acted
alone, it would be alone. But Israel did act — acted alone to defend itself. In
1981, under the leadership of Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Israel destroyed
the nuclear reactor at Osirak. The United States criticized Israel and
suspended arms transfers for three months. And in 2002, after the worst wave of
Palestinian terror attacks in Israel’s history, Prime Minister Sharon launched
Operation Defensive Shield. The United States demanded that Israel withdraw its
troops immediately, but Sharon continued until the operation was completed. There’sa
reason I mention all these. I mention them to make a point. Despite occasional
disagreements, the friendship between America and Israel grew stronger and
stronger, decade after decade. And our friendship will weather the current
disagreement, as well, to grow even stronger in the future.And I’ll tell you
why; because we share the same dreams. Because we pray and hope and aspire for
that same better world; because the values that unite us are much stronger than
the differences that divide usvalues like liberty, equality, justice,
tolerance,compassion. As our region descends into medieval barbarism, Israel is
the one that upholds these values common to us and to you. As Assad drops bell
bombs on his own people, Israeli doctors treat his victims in our hospitals
right across the fence in the Golan Heights. As Christians in the Middle East
are beheaded and their ancient communities are decimated, Israel’s Christian
community is growing and thriving, the only one such community in the Middle
East. As women in the region are repressed, enslaved, and raped, women in
Israel serve as chief justices, CEOs, fighter pilots, two women chief justices
in a row.Well, not in a row, but in succession. That’s pretty good. In a dark,
and savage, and desperate Middle East, Israel is a beacon of humanity, of
light, and of hope. Ladies and gentlemen, Israel and the United States will
continue to stand together because America and Israel are more than friends. We’re
like a family. We’re practically mishpocha. Now, disagreements in the family
are always uncomfortable, but we must always remember that we are family. Rooted
in a common heritage, upholding common values, sharing a common destiny. And
that’s the message I came to tell you today. Our alliance is sound. Our
friendship is strong. And with your efforts it will get even stronger in the
years to come. Thank you, AIPAC. Thank you, America. God bless you all.
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