While congratulating the new Prime Minister on his victory, and wishing the government success, Mr. Peres promised his partys support for positive policies and strong opposition to what they will perceive to be risky moves. The bulk of his address was a review of the peace process achieved under the leadership of the late Yitzhak Rabin and himself and the hopes he had for Israel and the new Middle East as both face the 21st century. Text:
Honored Knesset,
The people have had their say in democratic elections, and we are all bound to honor their decision, even if it was made by an extremely thin majority, because in a democracy, any majority even if it is one vote is a legal majority. The State of Israel is already well-versed in changes of government, and the transfer of government was and will be full and orderly, without delays or difficulties.
On behalf of the opposition, I would like to welcome the new Prime Minister and the new government, and wish them success.
If the new government is wise enough to take the right path, we will support it. If not, we will criticize it. This is the nature of democracy, and this is our mission according to the voters decision.
Personally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, you spoke well about the need for national reconciliation and your desire to be the Prime Minister of the entire people, Jews and Arabs.
But you know, as do I, that the people are divided in their opinions.
One million, four hundred and seventy-one thousand, five hundred and sixty-six citizens about half of the voters wanted a different outcome. On their behalf, I hope that your government will conduct considered and responsible policies, and will prefer full peace over a policy of "not one inch." I hope that it will persistently avoid excessive settlement, which is leading to a binational state; that it will avoid the coercive rule of another people, and that it will be faithful to the conscience of Jewish morality. I hope that you will continue to walk on the great path which has been prepared over the past four years, in order to advance the State of Israel toward security and peace. I am convinced that a decided majority of the people support the peace process which we have begun, and that they want it to continue.
The government will be tested in the eyes of the people and the world by its ability to uphold the will of the people and fulfill Israels international commitments, to continue to march forward toward peace, and not Heaven forbid to move the process backwards. In order to succeed, the government does not have to invent anything new. It must continue dealing with the many difficulties strewn in this path, without deviating from the main goal.
I fear, my friend the Prime Minister, that you will quickly discover that the platform on which you were elected cannot serve as a recipe for success and progress in the peace process. You will have to disappoint many of your voters and partners, if you wish to reach any kind of results. Pretty slogans will be no substitute for policy, and coalition formulas will not forestall the need for brave and fateful decisions. The policy guidelines are also full of contradictions: the Palestinians already have self-rule, and there is no reason to propose this to them again. In contrast, international agreements which have been signed by one government are binding on the government which comes after it.
Mr. Speaker,
The new government is receiving a great legacy, the likes of which no government in Israel has ever received. Never has Israels situation been as firm as it is today. Over the past four years, the government of Yitzhak Rabin whom the nation will never forget, and as whose partner and successor it was my privilege to serve brought about the most dramatic revolution in the history of the State, altering Israels status and horizons. The breakthrough in Oslo created the mechanism for interim arrangements and for a permanent settlement with our neighbors, the Palestinians. It paved the path to peace with Jordan, and created an opportunity to end the conflict in the Middle East through negotiations with Syria and Lebanon. The Arab boycott collapsed, and Israels relations now extend from the Maghreb to the Gulf. The State of Israel was rescued from its chronic isolation, and now holds a respected place in the international community.
Israels relations with the United States went from a low ebb to a peak of friendship, and unprecedented political and security understanding. The entire world was opened to Israels citizens, and the Israeli economy rose to new heights. Growth increased, gross national product expanded, unemployment declined. The standard of living shot upward, the waves of immigration were appropriately absorbed, and most of the immigrants have housing and employment. Israeli Arabs began to taste equality, in practice. The road infrastructure was improved beyond recognition. The traffic jams across the country were alleviated and most importantly, the investments in education and science were doubled, and the education establishment in Israel is now a world leader.
These great accomplishments are not given. They are the fruit of good policies. And they are liable to be the victim of bad policies. They are a product of priorities which were made possible by a strategy of peace, directed by the outgoing government. In order to preserve these achievements, and move them forward, it is necessary to continue the momentum for peace with the Palestinians, the Syrians, the Lebanese and other Arab states. It is necessary to advance toward peace on a broad front. It is impossible to advance in a narrow fashion, without being accompanied by a parallel effort on other fronts, because the components of peace are interdependent. It is not possible to "freeze" policy on ice since halting one process will give rise to other, contrary processes. The United States has helped and will continue to help. The United States did not apply pressure, and will ostensibly not use pressure in the future. The choice for peace is ours; it is not a dictat imposed from outside.
In recent days, we have witnessed a new alignment within the Arab world. I believe that this was a hasty response, since it would have been fitting to first allow the government to organize its policies and to implement them but it is impossible to ignore the fact that the entire Middle East has not entirely accepted the peace process and the first buds of peace. There are even those who conspire to murder them.
The Israeli capital market and economic factors are also demonstrating signs of concern, and foreign investors are tensely monitoring events. The United States and the European Union, and markets in the East and the West, are waiting to see whether the peace process will continue not only with words, but with actions, because the economy and peace are bound together.
The upcoming test of the government will be its commitment to redeploy the IDF in Hebron, in accordance with the Oslo II accord. This is an explicit commitment, and the government must uphold it. Contrary to all the charges, the redeployment does not affect the holy places or the security of Hebrons Jewish residents, and it makes no change in the prayer arrangements at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. What it does involve is the transfer of a clear majority of Arab Hebron to the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority.
The government must continue discussions on the permanent settlement. And I must say that, all told, the Palestinian Authority has fulfilled most of its commitments, including those in the security sphere.
Hebron is just one item. There is a deeper, broader issue: On the cusp of the 21st century, what direction will Israel take? It is possible to think in static terms. That that which was, will continue, and the Middle East will always remain a region riddled with conflict, steeped in uncompromising hatred and outbreaks of terrorism and bloody wars. Something akin to a nature preserve in a changing world.
Despite this, it is possible to think in dynamic terms, of a Middle East that is not immune to the currents of history, or technological progress, or an abundance of media, or economic interests. A Middle East that is not a stranger to the expectations of a person of our generation. The truth is, the Middle East is going through a transitional period, in which conservative and modern forces act powerfully; in which violent fundamentalists act alongside the forces of democratization and a market economy. In a dynamic reality such as this, Israel cannot be, and must not be, passive. It must encourage the establishment of a coalition of the forces of peace and progress. And even create these forces.
Israel will only be able to play this role if it adopts a working policy of peace, which means an historic reconciliation and territorial solutions. Thank God we are no longer ruling another nation by force and we must complete this process. We must find additional partners, since we know that the raw material of future partners are the enemies of yesterday. The region is waiting to see how the new government will operate. There is no doubt that the peace wing of the Arab world, both the known and the hidden, with which we have conducted political dialogue, hopes that the new government will continue on the path of the outgoing government. And by the same token, the enemies of peace, Teheran and its emissaries in Hamas, in Islamic Jihad, hopes that the new government will adopt the extremist declarations heard on the right, something that will put an end to the peace process, which is anathema to them.
A new strategy of peace is required for Israel and the countries of the region because the concepts of war are also new. The missiles and non-conventional weapons, their sophistication, their firing range and increased destructive power turn a potential military conflict into a situation fraught with disaster. This is likely to be a war that will have victims but no winners. The coalition of animosity in the Middle East is striving towards a nuclear option, and until then is being aided by terrorism, including the terrorism of suicide bombers bordering on the insane.
Time is not imaginary, it is critical. In the region, there is a race of many war horses, and one cannot implement a turtle policy which continues slowly, and relies upon the armor on ones back. It is also not enough to agree among ourselves. The peace policy must have two sides: The government can arrive at peace formulas such as "peace for peace" with its right-wing partners, but it will soon discover that the world will not answer to an order to "march to the right." In such a case, it will remain without peace, and without a region characterized by peace and security.
Israel also needs peace at home, but only a genuine peace will remove the elements of dispute among the nation. Only real peace will release the tremendous spiritual energies of the people of Israel, and create a new era of spiritual and cultural growth.
Mr. Speaker, Members of Knesset,
The people have decided, and I can do nothing but respect their decision. I received the confidence of 49.51% of the voters, it was not enough to win, but it was a great deal enough not to forget the expectations which accompanied the ballots which were cast: to create a new Israel, to create a new Middle East. To bring peace to Israel and within Israel.
When the election results became known, I received and I continue to receive daily thousands of letters of encouragement from well-wishers at home, and from many friends abroad. Letters were written by children and young people, grown-ups and the elderly; Jews and non-Jews. I am moved and feel a deep sense of gratitude from the magnitude of sympathy rising from the slips in the ballot box and from the letters in the mail box. And I am eternally grateful to them. I pray that the anxieties expressed in them will prove groundless, and that the hopes will be fulfilled.
Among the letter was one from Gil Greenberg, a charming young man of 17, handicapped and bound to a wheelchair. Among other things, he wrote the following: "Despite the political loss, I have the feeling that no one can dispute the peace which you built along with the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Our peace is a solid fact in the pages of history, and facts cannot be erased. The changes which have now been established in government necessitate continuing the path, with all due vigor and determination. I promise to continue and I promise to do everything so that peace will win. I believe in it with all my heart, and this time I feel that the mission is even greater. It is not enough to continue the political process, as the Netanyahu government plans, if at all. We must also instill in all strata of Israels population the necessity of achieving peace with our neighbors ... to cause them to understand that only peace can bring true security to the people of Israel and not the opposite. You, I, and half of this people know this well."
In his letter, Gil draws an analogy between his physical handicap and the widespread anxieties among the public. He relates that one young woman, blind from birth, once told him about her fears of opening her eyes: "I am afraid of what I will see; afraid of the strong light. Perhaps it will blind my eyes." And Gil adds: "So, apparently, we humans are also born, with a mechanism for war, which our hardened souls created for themselves in order to survive. And it is difficult, so very difficult for us, to rid ourselves of it. Even for what we believe in and want so much the supreme happiness embedded in the foundations of peace."
I would like to promise you, dear Gil, that peace will overcome. The prophets of Israel are the ones who gave the world the vision of peace and the end of war. Our people have known Holocaust and war, terrorism and bereavement but the belief in peace has never died within it. Through its power, we paved the way. Through its power we will continue to struggle even in opposition in order to bring closer the day on which the following prayer and blessing will be fulfilled: "And thus you shall say: All hail! And peace be both unto you and peace be to your house, and peace be unto all that you have."
My dear Prime Minister,
Today, the opposition grants your new government the travellers prayer and the credit to take the path to peace. That is our advice. That is our hope. That is our struggle. That is the mission of every Government of Israel and how it will be tested. The opposition, in any case, will be on guard. It will do everything in its power to make sure that the government will not veer off the path to peace.
Mr. Speaker,
Seven months ago, the Prime Minister of Israel was murdered. I want to believe that we have not allowed that terrible crime to pass unheeded, because the detestable murderers pistols bullets were directed at the heart of Israeli democracy.
Above all the disagreements, we are one people. We have one government and one Knesset. We have President Ezer Weizman who symbolizes and represents, in his stormy ways and his compelling personality, our national unity.
Even in the midst of the most heated argument, let us not forget the late Yitzhak Rabin. Let us not forget the murder nor the lesson. It is impossible to murder the truth. It is impossible to murder perfection. We may discuss and argue with all of our might, yet each person will respect the other and his right to hold a different opinion. And maybe, this Knesset will deviate from its predecessors and stand before the public as a wondrous model for civilized behavior, including during difficult, controversial times. That would be to the Knessets honor and the honor of all of its members.
A new government and a new Knesset are beginning on their way. May it be a good path.