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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Speech on the Final Evening of the World WIZO Conference /Translation. |
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| 22/01/2004 |
Ms. Michal Modai, out-going President,
Ms. Helena Glazer, in-coming President,
Honored Guests,
Gentlemen, and especially Ladies,
I am pleased to be here with you tonight. I would like to thank you for your warm hospitality I have never before hugged so many women at the same time.
For many generations, the concept of the Jewish mother has been synonymous with love, giving and endless devotion. WIZO took the wonderful qualities embodied by the Jewish mother, and channeled them into contributing to society. Thus, an organization of Zionist women in Britain formed to assist pioneer women in the Land of Israel was transformed into the world's largest volunteer movement of Zionist women, numbering a quarter of a million women. Thanks to them, thanks to you and thanks to your mobilization and contribution, WIZO has undertaken a wide range of unique activities in Israel and the Diaspora.
I view your activities in the field of education as the most important. Our children are our future. They are our most profitable investment, and the more we invest in them, the more we will receive. All of us.
The work you are doing for our future generations is of the greatest importance. 5,500 children study at WIZO-sponsored schools. 50 youth centers all around the country provide a warm and nurturing environment to thousands of children and teenagers. WIZO volunteers help immigrant children to integrate into Israeli society. Your importance and contribution in these activities cannot be assigned a numerical value. And this is even before mentioning the daycare centers, after-school centers, club-houses, shelters for girls in distress and for battered women, including one at which, one year ago, I lit a candle during Hanukkah, with out-going President Michal Modai at a very special evening. Therefore, I would like to say to you, on behalf of the people of Israel, thank you.
And in addition to these important programs, the existence of WIZO as an active Zionist body, which participates in international organizations, even if not as a member, but as a participant who has a say and expresses an opinion. This activity strengthens Israels standing in the world.
We are also grateful to you for standing by the State of Israel during one of the most difficult periods in its history. Your coming to Israel and staying here are expressions of your love, and I am certain that you receive love here. We derive strength from your love, and I know that you also feel strengthened by us, by the very existence of the State of Israel. This is the mutual guarantee, which has ensured the survival of the Jewish people throughout history. All of Israel are friends, and all of Israel is responsible for one another.
This feeling of Jewish friendship and mutual responsibility is especially important during this period in which, in many places around the world, anti-Semitism is again rearing its ugly head. In the past, Diaspora Jews had no refuge from anti-Semitic attacks. Today, the gates of our national Jewish home are open wide to every Jew. However, as a Zionist, I believe that making Aliyah is the right thing to do, regardless of anti-Semitic expressions.
I believe that here and only here in our historic homeland, can the Jewish people realize our full creative potential as a nation, for our benefit and the benefit of the entire world. Only here can a Jew truly live a Jewish life.
I hope you will all decide to make the greatest contribution of all, and live with us here in Israel, as residents of the only Jewish country in the world.
My dear friends,
I wish to thank Ms. Michal Modai for the tremendous contribution she made to children and women in Israel, during her 8 years of service, and for her proud stance around the world, as a senior representative of Israel in its national struggles. Thank you. And I also would like to wish success to the new president of World WIZO, Ms. Helena Glazer. I am certain you will succeed.
I thank you all, and would like to extend my gratitude through you, to all the members of WIZO worldwide. Thank you for all you have done, and for everything you will do in the future. Shalom and see you soon in Jerusalem.
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