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Prime Minister's Greeting Welcoming the Vice-President of the United States |
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| (18/03/2002) |
My friend, the Vice President of the United States of America,
Welcome to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people and the united and undivided capital of the State of Israel.
Approximately six months ago at the World Trade Center in New York and at the Pentagon in Washington, the clock of history stood still. Nothing will ever be the same again.
I take this opportunity, on behalf of the people of Israel and on my own behalf, to express our gratitude and appreciation to President Bush, to you, Mr. Vice President, and to the entire American administration for raising the banner of the war against terrorism, as a supreme value.
In this war, Mr. Vice President, you are not alone. This is a war forced upon the entire free, enlightened and democratic world. This is a war between a civilization which sanctifies the value of life and the pursuit of a better future, and those who glorify death and destruction and seek to drag humanity into an abyss of despair and desperation.
Mr. Vice President, terrorism is terrorism is terrorism anywhere in the world. There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism. Real or imagined injustice or deprivation cannot serve as an excuse for the murder of innocent civilians. There is no neutrality in this struggle. Those who sit idly by and do nothing to prevent it become partners in the forces of terrorism and cannot wash their hands of it.
In recent months we have been in the midst of a brutal wave of terrorist attacks, aimed at innocent people civilians at cafיs and discotheques, youth, babies and entire families that fall prey to Palestinian terrorism. This terrorism knows no mercy. Therefore, the terrorists, their dispatchers and those who sponsor them must have no immunity or refuge - this is the only way to bring them to the realization that terror and violence will achieve nothing.
Mr. Vice President,
Israel is a peace-seeking nation and we are making every effort to reach an immediate cease fire and cessation of terrorism and to begin the implementation of the Tenet Plan. I have in the past declared that in order to achieve a real, just and durable peace, I would be willing to make painful compromises. But we cannot make any compromise on the security of our citizens and their right to live without the threat of terrorism and violence.
In the past 100 years, and primarily since it gained independence 54 years ago, Israel has had remarkable achievements in every field of life. This indicates what we can contribute to our nation and the entire region when peace is finally achieved - the peace for which we all yearn, the peace which, with Gods help, we will achieve.
Mr. Vice President, I want to thank you for your personal friendship and for standing by the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Your visit to this region at this time is important to all those who seek peace. I believe that together, with vigor and determination, we can eliminate the threat of terrorism and restore freedom and the hope for peace for our children and all the peoples of the region. Israel will continue to stand by the United States and assist in the battle to defend our common values and way of life.
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