Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to “meet me in the coming days” to begin peace talks in order to “fashion a final peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors.”
“My idea of peace is that we live next to one another and we talk to each other to achieve peace. The sooner the better. Direct negotiations must start right away,” Netanyahu told a crowd of Jewish community leaders, as well as political, civic and business leaders.
Netanyahu’s message to Israelis, Americans and the wider world came 2 days after patching up relations with President Barack Obama in Washington, DC.
The New York event, sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was also addressed by New York Governor David Paterson and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
In her remarks, Senator Gillibrand remembered her trip to Israel and specifically to Sderot last year.
“The U.S. must always support Israel’s right to protect her people,” she said, adding that she would use her voice in the U.S. Senate “to bring together bipartisan coalitions in Congress to show the world that our bond is truly unbreakable.”
Among the elected officials attending the event were Congressional members Yvette Clarke (D-NY) who came with her Crown Heights aid Eli Slavin, Anthony Weiner (D-NY), and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), as well as NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.
Also present was Rabbi Mendel Sharfstein of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch.
Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined security, legitimacy and prosperity as the three pillars of successful peace noting he is ready to take “political risks.”
“Security makes peace possible and makes a realistic peace take hold and endure,” he said. Regarding the challenges to Israel’s legitimacy, the Prime Minister commented that there are two lines of attack against Israel: the denial of the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel and the denial of Israel’s right to defend itself.
“So much of the world supports Israel’s right to defend itself in theory, but consistently condemns it in practice … but the purpose of the Jewish state is to defend Jewish lives,” said Netanyahu, adding that Israel was recognized and commended by British General Kemp for its efforts to prevent civilian casualties on all sides of battle.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that Israel faces three great challenges in the coming months: (1) staying focused on preventing a nuclear Iran, (2) redoubling its efforts to find the path to peace with the Palestinians and to those negotiations as soon as possible, and (3) uniting against any effort to challenge Israel’s rights to defend itself.
two of his points are good but to give away land is unacceptable as he said thy have given away land in the past but it was taken over by enemies and it will be taken over by enemies again their goal is not to have a palestinian state it is thatthere should be no jewish state till the state of israel came into being there was no such thing as a palestinian it started after israel came about they were a rabs who lived in palestine
YES!!!! RACHMONA LITZLON!!!! is ALSO for the fact that now all these people who think that they know better than the Rebbe, can now proudly and boldly say that they EVEN had TWO representatives of the worldwide LUBAVITCH movement come to this stupid event – and give a HECHSHER to….YES!!! that’s right…..you can say it again…..RACHMONA LITZLON – GIVING BACK CHUNKS OF ERETZ YISROEL, that hundreds of YIDDEN were MOISER NEFESH b’gashmius MAMMASH, and that the Rebbe screamed his heart out about this very moment!
R A C H M O N A L I T Z L O N!!!!!
ok David i will
Ok since you asked so nicely i’ll do it.
-bibi
please bibi put a yamulka on
Rachmon litzlan – to even think of giving away a piece of land. Azkir al hatzion.