Distinguished guests, Deputy Ministers Majalli Whbee and Danny Ayalon, incoming Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Foreign Ministry employees, Foreign Ministry Director-General Aaron Abramovich and all the other employees. In the news today they are constantly reporting about farewell and handover ceremonies, and quoting some line or other that we said. But for us, this is much more than a changing of the guard. For me, this is the end of an era in life, and for you the beginning of a new one. I have already said my goodbyes to the Foreign Ministry employees and now I will say a few words about the changing of the ministers.
The Foreign Ministry is a world unto itself, and not just because we work with the entire world. The Foreign Ministry is, naturally, a professional office, but its underlying approach is based on the minister’s worldview and the government’s worldview, so the approach is likely to change when the minister does. On the other hand, the Foreign Ministry is the State of Israel, and the State of Israel reaches far beyond the Administration’s fundamental approach, beyond the changing governments, and beyond our various worldviews regarding the right thing to do. So even when the minister changes, the need to represent, defend and advance the interests of the State of Israel remains the same.
The gap we need to bridge is not just between the basic approaches of the different administrations – explaining what the current policy is, or relating to an ever-changing reality (and a week in the Middle East is like an eternity in other places). Israel has a problem in the most fundamental sense. Our values are clear to us – why the State of Israel was established, what we would like to achieve, our desire for peace, the necessity of fighting terror, our values as the national home for the Jewish people and our democratic values. Everything that is obvious to us in the State of Israel, 60-some years after its establishment, is melting away elsewhere in the world. Israel’s existence is undergoing a process of de-legitimization. Not its physical existence – incidentally, there is a consensus on that. But the question is whether it is still clear to the world that the State of Israel exists as the national home of the Jewish people. If in the past we heard a bit from those voices in French, in the political science departments in the Paris universities, today we hear them in English, beyond Europe, and this is a subject that the State of Israel must contend with, because as I see it, the struggle for existence is not only for its physical existence but for the existence of a democratic State of Israel as the national home for the Jewish people.
There are no differences of opinion between us on these basic issues; they are in fact the bridge connecting the various Israeli administrations, and do not depend on a specific worldview. I suppose that we will have arguments to no end on a great many subjects, especially since I have assumed the position of Head of the Opposition. But I say with all openness and honesty: when these subjects need to be represented, I am at your service, at the service of the Foreign Ministry, at the service of the Government of Israel. Because, to my great regret, this is starting to be a point of controversy between Israel and the rest of the world. The world today is suspicious. It recognizes the threats, but is not always willing to go the extra mile to deal with them. This is a world, as I see it, whose expectations of Israel serve our interests in everything related to advancing political processes, but that will be part of the decisions that rest on the shoulders of the new government, and undoubtedly also part of what you will have to cope with.
When I started out in the Knesset, I was told that the Foreign Ministry is the ultimate ministry. When one of the foreign ministers left his position and called to say goodbye, he told me, “I’m leaving the dream job now.” Some see it that way, and put the emphasis on representing the state and the numerous meetings involved. I think of that as the less important part of the Foreign Ministry. You can focus on secondary matters, but I chose to focus on the core issues of the State of Israel and Israel’s relations with the world. As I know you, I think that you will also choose to do the same.
In that context, be assured that you will find here employees who put aside their personal worldviews, actually because of their heightened sensitivity to different worldviews. The more you include and share with these people, the more they are willing to give and contribute. The ministry has undergone a change, jumped up a level, with regard to its status in the decision-making process in the State of Israel, and it’s a good thing, too. This has nothing to do with the status of the relevant minister, but of the ministry itself. It’s important to continue strengthening the Foreign Ministry’s role in all decision-making, because Israel seems to have internalized the idea that decisions cannot be based on only one viewpoint.
I wholeheartedly wish you success, because your success is the success of the State of Israel. I have no doubt that you will receive here all the help and support you need from the ministry employees and, as I said earlier, anything I can do to represent the State of Israel, I will do gladly, in any position I may hold, including my new position. Good luck and sincere thanks to every single one of the ministry employees. Thank you.