May 15, 1995
Mr. Speaker, Honored Knesset,
As a member of the generation of 1948, I am sensitive to today's date, May 15 -- because yesterday, 47 years ago -- according to the civil calendar -- at the Tel Aviv Museum, David Ben-Gurion, as the elected leader of the world Zionist movement, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish community in the land of Israel, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. The dream of generations had been realized.
But that which is understood as a matter of course today, was not always evident then. There are not many people today who know what concerns and fears -- of leaders, political parties, and wider circles within the pre-state Jewish community -- accompanied the birth pangs of the historic decision to establish the State of Israel. There were many doubts. The struggle was difficult. A majority of only two -- only two -- in the Provisional Council of State, six against four, enabled David Ben-Gurion to face, that very day, a nation that was fighting for its life, and say the joyous words that have, ever since, echoed frequently in our ears: "We hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel, to be known as the State of Israel."
The applause that greeted the proclamation of the state silenced only briefly the sounds of war. Even before then, certainly on the same day, even that very night, the State of Israel was embroiled in war, the War of Independence -- the longest and most painful of Israel's war. Since then, there has been one long war, called by various names, whose end -- true peace -- we are now seeking.
Members of Knesset,
In the speech I made upon presenting the current government, in this House, on July 13, 1992, I said, among other things:
"This Government, like all of its predecessors, believes there is no disagreement in this House concerning Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. United Jerusalem has been and will forever be the capital of the Jewish people, under Israeli sovereignty, a focus of the dreams and longing of every Jew. The Government is firm in its resolve that Jerusalem will not be open to negotiation. The coming years will also be marked by the extension of construction in Greater Jerusalem. All Jews, religious and secular, have vowed, 'if I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.' This vow unites us all and certainly includes me as a native of Jerusalem."
I further said in that same speech: "This Government will safeguard freedom of worship for the followers of all religions and all communities in Jerusalem. It will rigorously maintain free access to the holy places for all sects and ensure the conduct of a normal and pleasant life for those who visit and reside in the city."
I will add: We, as the sovereign State of Israel and the majority in Jerusalem, are sensitive to the need for tolerance and consideration, and strive for the equality of all citizens of united Jerusalem, regardless of religion or ethnic community.
Over the past three years, we have redeemed many of our promissory notes with the Israeli public, including the note on Jerusalem, which I can today present with great pride. Three years later, I find no reason to change, add to, or delete even one comma of the statement made on the day that the Government was presented. The Government continues to stand behind these statements today, and has no intention whatsoever of backing down from them.
Members of Knesset,
All the Governments of Israel since the end of the Six Day War have built united Jerusalem. The sources say, "Jerusalem -- mountains surround her"; but, today, one can no longer see the mountains, the hills of stone which encircled Jerusalem for generations. On the mountains of Jerusalem neighborhoods have been built, roads paved, and many thousands came to live within its gates.
We established facts on the ground in Jerusalem, because we always saw, and will always see Jerusalem as the heart of the Jewish people, as the capital of the State of Israel. For years, since the end of the Six Day War, a delicate fabric of life has been woven in Jerusalem: Jews, Muslims and Christians prayed to their God, lived alongside each other, in most cases with regard for tolerance and with respect for one another's rights. We owe much of this special atmosphere to Teddy Kollek, who for many years, day and night, took care to build the city and expand it, as well as to scrupulously guard against the unraveling of this very delicate fabric of life.
Building Jerusalem, like every city in Israel, requires the expropriation of land, both for building purposes and for public needs, such as roads, schools, kindergartens and community buildings. That is the way it has always been in Israel. Land was and is expropriated from both Jews and Arabs, according to needs and circumstances, when the planners and builders, mayors, politicians and contractors are faced with providing for the welfare of all the residents. All Governments of Israel until today have acted, with regard to expropriations in Jerusalem, in the spirit of the decision that expropriations be carried out only for public needs, and only when there is no other choice.
Members of Knesset,
Within the framework of building Jerusalem, it was recently decided to expropriate 535 dunams for building purposes. This a small area of land, in two places:
- In the Ramot neighborhood area -- about 335 dunams, of which about 30% is owned by Jews, about 15% is of unknown ownership, and the rest is owned by Arabs.
- The second expropriation is in the Har Gilo area -- about 200 dunams, some of which are next to Kiryat Yovel, along the Green Line. 112 dunams belong to unknown owners (due to the old Turkish registry method), 78 dunams are uncategorized land, 24 dunams belong to Jews and only 10 dunams to Arabs. In this area, police facilities are to be built, to replace facilities in the city center, and 400 housing units will be constructed for Arab residents of Jerusalem.
I should also note that, in January of this year, the Housing Ministry's Jerusalem District Administration submitted various plans, designed to provide housing solutions for the Arab population of eastern Jerusalem.
The Cabinet, at its meeting yesterday, resolved as follows:
- The Cabinet takes cognizance of the Prime Minister's announcement regarding the statement that was published on the intention to expropriate 535 dunam in Jerusalem.
- The Cabinet has no intention to carry out additional expropriations of land in Jerusalem for housing purposes.
- The Cabinet charged the Finance, Interior, Housing and Construction, and Environment Ministers to work, together with the Municipality of Jerusalem, to promote the issuing of building permits to Arab residents.
In short, much ado about nothing.
Members of Knesset,
This Government promised, from its first day, "to make every effort, to break every path, to do everything necessary for the sake of peace." It comes today, to the summer session of the Knesset, with a list of achievements that includes the first serious effort by an Israeli government to solve the most complex aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict -- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We achieved mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO. We achieved the Declaration of Principles, the Cairo Agreement and its application in "Gaza-Jericho first". In three days, we will mark the first anniversary of the implementation of this agreement, without which we could not have arrived at the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. In less than two years, looking towards the future, this government has moved towards a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict -- a solution which began with the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, on whose price I will not elaborate, but which will undoubtedly serve as a precedent on the Arab side of the negotiating table.
We are looking towards the future. We see the changes which have taken place in the Middle East. The former enemy, who played a leading role in all the wars launched by the Arab armies against us -- Egypt -- has for over 16 years lived in peace with us. Jordan has now joined Egypt and signed a peace treaty with Israel. We are in the process of resolving the conflict between us and the Palestinians. True, the Knesset is divided between different worldviews. But we believe that the dream of generations of Jews since the destruction of the Second Temple, their prayers to return to Zion, was not the establishment of a bi-national state. What generations of Jews dreamt of, in the context of the current reality, is the establishment of a Jewish state with a united Jerusalem as its capital. Not a bi-national state, but a Palestinian entity alongside us. We shall not return to the '67 lines. Our goal is to achieve peace with a Palestinian entity in the territories of Judea, Samaria and Gaza -- but not along the pre-'67 lines.
We are at the beginning of a process, not an easy process but one accompanied by the painful feelings of the past -- of hostility, hatred, bloodshed; a process of peace in the Middle East. Israel is making peace with her former enemies. Just as we made peace with our greatest enemy in war, with Egypt, so will we make peace with others who were our enemies and who will be our partners in building peace in the Middle East.
The present government is committed to the continued implementation of the Declaration of Principles. We set July 1st as the target date for reaching agreement on the second phase of this agreement. If there is a major obstacle, not the only obstacle, to reaching agreement on moving towards peace between us and the Palestinians, as this government sees it, this obstacle is first and foremost the terrorist activities if the radical Islamic terror organizations -- HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad, and to a certain extent also the rejectionist front.
It is a fact that since the end of 1993, the PLO, under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and Arafat, has not taken part in terrorist attacks against Israelis. It is only the enemies of peace who use terrorism as the principal means to achieve their political goal: to kill Israelis, and to kill the peace process.
Everyone can invoke the past. But this will not lead to a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
We demand that the Palestinian Authority fulfill its commitment under the Declaration of Principles and the Cairo Agreement. In recent weeks, we have seen steps taken by the Palestinian Authority against radical Islamic terrorist organizations -- against the Islamic Jihad, against HAMAS. The leaders of some of these organizations in Gaza were prepared to halt terrorism, not only in Gaza and Jericho, but also attacks launched from Gaza and Jericho against targets elsewhere. It is Iran which prevented them from doing so. Through Khomeinism which is invading and spreading throughout the Arab world, the Islamic world; by arming itself with conventional and non-conventional weapons -- Iran is today the principal enemy. Not the states which signed peace treaties with us, not the PLO or the Palestinian Authority; not even Syria or Lebanon. Those who do not see the future dangers will fail to prepare for them, and will not seek solutions with those who are ready to talk peace with us.
I have no doubt that we must demand that the Palestinian Authority stand by its commitments, while at the same time fulfilling our commitments and continuing to pursue the peace process with the Palestinians.
The peace with Jordan is developing in a positive manner. Tens of thousands of Israelis have already visited Jordan, thousands of Jordanians are visiting Israel; agreements have been signed. We are developing a kind of mutual cooperation which, I believe, will serve as a model of genuine peace between an Arab state, an Arab people, and the State of Israel.
We are proud of this achievement, which could not have been attained without the agreement with the Palestinians.
The negotiations with Syria have encountered difficulties. Syrian demands indicate a desire to obtain more from Israel in return for peace than was achieved by either of the states which have signed peace treaties with us. We intend to continue to negotiate. Israel will not be responsible for bringing the negotiations to a halt. We shall continue to pursue peace with Syria. But we must all understand that without compromise there can be no peace, including territorial compromise, with a readiness in principle for a certain measure of withdrawal in order to achieve peace.
We are also engaged in a constant war against Hizbullah terrorism from Lebanon. The SLA and part of the Lebanese population in southern Lebanon stand by us in this effort. We have learned, to our regret, that the war in Lebanon did not eliminate terrorism from Lebanon, which is today led and carried out by part of that same radical Islamic Khomeinist wave sweeping the Arab and the Islamic world: Hizbullah. IDF and SLA soldiers are engaged a constant battle, and shall continue to do so. I believe that we shall succeed in preventing attacks against civilians in northern Israeli towns. All attempts to infiltrate through the security zone to launch attacks against Israeli settlements have failed. We shall continue our war against Hizbullah terrorism. The representatives of the wave of radical Islamic terror, of Khomeinism without Khomeini -- HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad among the Palestinians, and Hizbullah in Lebanon -- are the enemies of the moderate Arab regimes in Egypt, Algeria and Jordan. They, backed by Iran, are the enemy threatening stability, security and peace in the Middle East.
The present government will continue to move forward to achieve the aspirations of all those who attended the Madrid Peace Conference.
We shall continue. We shall not be pressured by specific dates. We do not wish to lose time in moving towards peace; but not at all costs, and on our own terms.
I shall conclude my remarks by commending the thousands of IDF soldiers, border guards, police and others who, through their efforts, allowed the Israeli people to celebrate and enjoy the Passover and Independence Day holidays, in security, without harm, fully identifying with the meaning and spirit of these holidays. For this, the IDF soldiers, border guards and police deserve the esteem and thanks of the entire people.
I hereby ask the Knesset to note my statement.