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Jewish World Review Nov. 18, 2002 / 13 Kislev, 5763
Israel expects world's support not only when burying dead; but when fighting to defend lives against the forces of
terror
Remarks to the Diplomatic Corps following the Hebron Sabbath Massacre
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Thank you very much, all of you, for coming in on a Sunday, and I apologize
for breaking your weekend. Unfortunately, the terrorists don't care much
for Sunday, or Saturday, or Friday night, as you saw.
It is good to see all of you. We are rekindling a tradition I kept as prime
minister and foreign minister. We would meet on regular occasions, and I
intend to do the same now. I met with many of you during the last three
years when I was not in office; in fact, one of the most memorable meetings
I had was with Ambassador Shihad of Egypt. The last time we met was on a
particular date, it was September 11; and, in the course of our discussion,
we received news of the horrific tragedy, the horrific attacks in America.
And I remember that I said to Ambassador Shihad that this is an event that
would change history.
It has, but history takes time to unfold, and the full consequences of this
change are being visited upon us as we speak. Of course, we are all
experiencing in Israel, and in other countries as well, the savage attacks
of terrorists. In the last 48 hours, Israel has received messages of
condolences from many of your governments, and they're deeply appreciated.
They are heartfelt, they express utter condemnation for what happened, and
our appreciation is equally heartfelt.
But, at the outset, I'd like to make something clear. Israel expects the
world not only to support us when we bury our dead; Israel expects the world
to support us when we fight to defend our lives against the forces of
terror, as is the right of every nation, under the right of self-defense. I
think you can imagine what would happen if, in your own countries,
worshipers would be killed or wounded, holy sites would be attacked - either
churches, or mosques, or synagogues - and if this would be an unrelenting
attack that attacks your people day in and day out. So we have to address
this in the way any civilized country would do. The first obligation of any
civilized government is to protect the lives of its citizens.
In this particular attack in Hebron, the terrorists were en route to Kiryat
Arba; this is the best information we have. That is, 12 Israelis were
killed and some 15 were wounded near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the Tomb of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But we have clear information that the
terrorists were en route to a mass killing of civilians in Kiryat Arba. The
attack in the Hebron area follows the October 25th decision on the part of
the Israeli government to vacate positions that were, in fact, taken up, or
rather withdrawn by Israel. Israel withdrew from these areas in order to
alleviate the pressure on the civilian population. And, in response, what
we got was, of course, the massive attack that we have now.
Unfortunately, this is a pattern that is repetitive. We make gestures, we
make accommodations, and what we get in return is an escalation of terror,
an abuse of Israel's willingness to act in a humanitarian fashion. And
this, of course, makes it very difficult to lessen the hardship to the
population.
These attacks that we have witnessed in previous months come from all the
organizations. Yesterday, or rather two days ago, it was from Islamic
Jihad; before that, it was from Fatah-Tanzim, which is headed, of course, by
Arafat. Before that, we had attacks from Hamas and other organizations. In
other words, everyone is part of this; all of the terrorist organizations
are engaged in what they call "the armed struggle." And the chosen sites
are everywhere: they could be in the historic city of Hebron, they could be
in a kibbutz within the Green Line like Kibbutz Metzer, in Jerusalem, Tel
Aviv, or anywhere in the country. The objective of these organizations is
to kill Israelis, as many as possible. And, if they had the ability - the
political and military ability - they would kill Israel altogether.
It is important for me to say that we have unambiguous information that Mr.
Arafat is not merely passive; it is not merely that he is not lifting a
finger to stop this terrorism. He is actually engaged in lifting a finger,
and more often a hand, in fact, two hands, to torpedo any effort to stop the
terrorism. Arafat is actively torpedoing efforts to stop the terrorism, and
Arafat himself is often engaged in the financing and the launching of
terrorism. He has financed, for example, in July the funding of the person
who actually launched the terrorist into Kibbutz Metzer. So, I think this
leads to one obvious conclusion: if any of us still clings to the illusion
that we can deliver the task of protecting Israeli lives to the Palestinian
Authority, this is an illusion. It's not going to work. It cannot work.
The only force that can protect Israeli lives is Israel and its army. And
therefore, the conclusion that we come to is that we must exercise the right
of self-defense against the forces of terror and against the regimes that
stand behind them. I use the word "regimes," because what is involved is
not only Arafat's regime. Take the case, for example, of the attack in
Hebron, of the Islamic Jihad. That organization is based in Damascus.
Ramadan Shallah, its leader, in fact enjoys the patronage and the protection
of the Syrian government. And therefore, I urge all of you to include in
your policies the clear-cut demand that Syria be told to stop this action,
be told to close down the offices of the Islamic Jihad and the other
terrorist organizations; the clear-cut demand that Hizbullah be declared a
terrorist organization. And, indeed, to put pressure not only on Syria but
also on Iran, that has been actively supporting these terrorist
organizations and others.
I think that only a clear-cut and coherent position by the international
community can contribute to putting the pressure on those regimes -
Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, and others - that are supporting this wave of
terror. If we are to win the war against terrorism, we have to address this
problem indivisibly. Terrorism is a unified problem, it is indivisible.
There are not good terrorists and bad terrorists, as President Bush has
said, there are only bad terrorists. And those leaders and regimes that are
compromised by terror are illegitimate. They cannot be partners for
anything.
And the important thing is to use this clarity in your own policies, which
is what you would do in your own predicament and what you are doing, those
of you who have been unfortunately attacked by terror. It is important to
understand that terrorism is indivisible, and therefore the battle against
terrorism has to be indivisible. Those who practice terrorism, those who
condone, support and encourage terrorism should be attacked diplomatically
and, in the case of direct attacks, military attacks, should also be
defended against militarily.
Thank you very much.
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By Binyamin Netanyahu
Mr. Netanyahu, a former Israeli prime minister, is currently the Jewish state's foreign minister. His remarks were made in Jerusalem, November 17, 2002. Comment by clicking here.
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