In response to invitations extended to Prime Minister Rabin by King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales to visit Spain, Mr. Rabin spent three days in that country. In his speech at an official reception, tended by Prime Minister Gonzales, Mr. Rabin evoked the long history of close ties between Spain and the Jewish people, and more recently between Spain and the State of Israel. Text:
Mr. Prime Minister, Mrs. Gonzales, Ministers of the Spanish Government, and Esteemed Hosts.
Almost four months ago, their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain were welcomed in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the State of Israel [and) the heart of the Jewish people; Jerusalem, the universal city of mankind [and] the cradle of the great monotheistic religions.
The visit of the royal couple to Israel was more than an official visit. It was a symbol of reconciliation between our past and present. It was a token of renewal of the bond between the Jewish people reborn in its homeland, and its past dwelling place abandoned after centuries of creative and active presence,
On my first official visit to Spain as Prime Minister of the State of Israel, it is a unique honor to stand before you today. As a Jew, I was brought up to see the dramatic chronicles of our forefathers in Spain as an intrinsic part of our cultural legacy. The history of our two peoples was forged by the great days of the Golden Ages, an era of cultural blossoming and the fostering of intellectual pursuits, both spiritual and worldly. Without relinquishing for a moment their dreams of Zion and Jerusalem, where their hearts eternally resided - to paraphrase one of our greatest Sephardi poets, Yehuda Halevy - they nonetheless perceived Spain as a second homeland, not merely a land of exile. For them, Toledo was a second Jerusalem.
In this fertile environment, the Jewish people enriched Spain with its scientists, mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, rabbis, writers, and poets. The Jewish people found in Spain the conditions in which it could express its creative energies and find consolation, if only temporarily, for the loss of its original homeland. Admittedly, the lights of our Spanish experience were frequently overshadowed by persecution and the saga of expulsion. Today, we would like to draw lessons of reconciliation.
There is much to be admired in the history of Spain, much from which we can learn - both in terms of Spain's economic success and its tradition as a unique melting pot of cultural legacies that eventually became the backbone of our Western civilizations. For indeed, for centuries, Spain was the only place on earth where coexistence and tolerance thrived among Christians, Muslims, and Jews. In recent times, in its admirable struggle for democracy, Spain has given the world a valuable lesson in peaceful transition from dictatorship to pluralism.
Spain's geography, too, can be seen as a symbol of reconciliation. Part of Europe and yet close to the Arab world, Spain is a bridge between North and South [and] East and West. Therefore, it was only fitting that it hosted the Madrid Conference in October 1991, an event which was a turning point in Arab-Israeli relations and paved the way to cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors. To us, the Madrid conference also meant that Spain had finally become, after many years of estrangement, a friendly country.
Mr. Prime Minister, as a long-time friend of Israel, you have been the architect in the establishment of Spain's diplomatic relations with Israel in 1986. We are grateful to you for your tireless work and your personal vision. Under your stewardship, our bilateral relations have flourished. You visited Israel in 199 1, and President Herzog was honored to make a visit in 1992. Our economic relations are developing and tourism in increasing steadily. Yet we must explore ways to further expand the commercial ties between our two countries to our mutual benefit. Normalization of our ties has now been fully achieved, we should now elevate our views to wider horizons.
Mr. Prime Minister, I have come from Jerusalem with a message of peace. Since Madrid, we have not left a stone unturned in order to reach agreement with our neighbors. On September 13, 1993, we succeeded in signing a Declaration of Principles with the PLO, and my sincere hope is to reach agreement on its implementation soon, so as to enable the Palestinians, for the first time in their history, to run their own lives, while providing the people of Israel with security and tranquility. We have had enough of bloodshed, enough of tears and shattered dreams. It is time to build ties, to coexist.
As for our other negotiating partners, I say to them: I am offering my hand in peace. We feel no hatred, no grudge or bigotry. Let us all make a pledge that we will do our utmost to achieve peace during this coming year, so as to usher in a new era in the Middle East; an era in which the integrity, security, and sovereignty of all nation-states are respected. In that Middle East of our vision, cooperation with dignity will prevail.
Mr. Prime Minister,
Thank you for hosting us and for the support and encouragement you have shown us until now, and no doubt will continue to show us in the future.
Let us toast Prime Minister and Mrs. Gonzalez and the deepening friendship between Spain and Israel.