Mr. President and Mrs. Katsav,
Madam Speaker,
Members of Knesset,

The special session of the Knesset is not only dedicated to marking 146 years since the birth of Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl – but is also a discussion about his legacy, and the way in which the character, institutions and goals of the State of Israel should be shaped in accordance with Herzl’s Zionist vision.

The “Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl Law – to Commemorate His Person and Activities”, which was passed in the Knesset only two years ago, is meant to ensure that the national and political vision and legacy of the State’s visionary will be remembered by coming generations.

In 1895, Herzl covered the Dreyfus Trial as a journalist.  He was profoundly shaken by the false accusations made against Dreyfus simply because he was Jewish, and by the wave of anti-Semitism sweeping public opinion in France.  With his sharp senses, he understood that the Jewish people had no hope in the Diaspora, and that there was no other choice but to establish an independent Jewish state.

Herzl did not invent Zionism.  Zionism, as a dream and as a concept, already existed.  However, Herzl transformed the dream into a political goal, and the dreamers into a national movement.

Herzl succeeded in captivating the Jewish masses with his vision, thanks to the fact that the vision he presented was not a messianic vision, abstract and immaterial.  He outlined, in great detail, the image of the Jewish state which he wished to establish – its cities and villages, its judges and soldiers, even its railway system.  And since he dealt in reality, and not a dream, he succeeded in changing that reality.

102 years after his death, and 58 years after the establishment of the nation of which he dreamed, Herzl still has much to contribute to our public discourse in matters which still excite public opinion in Israel – on issues relating to law, principles, and regarding the nature and character of the State of Israel.

Thus, for example, Herzl vehemently criticized the perception that a country was legal and legitimate only when it was merely a country for all its citizens: a country for all its citizens, yes – but not just that.  Herzl presented the principle of the emissary, which stated that a political movement, like the Zionist movement, could take responsibility for representing an entire people – and act on its behalf and for its benefit – even if it was not possible to formally assert this mission through elections.  A country for all its citizens, yes, but not just that.  A state for all its citizens, while at the same time the nation of the entire Jewish people.

Also regarding the ties between religion and the state, and economic and social topics, Herzl’s voice – the enlightened liberal – is relevant, and should be heeded.

“We are a people – one people”, Herzl exhorted the Jews of his generation, and we should live this way today as well: as one people, connected not only with the Diaspora of the Jewish people.  We must live as one people, united, here as well, within ourselves.  This is Herzl’s legacy.  However, so is this: the Jewish state must not be a nation like any nation.  It must build within itself an exemplary society, open, free and pluralistic, a society whose motto is that of Herzl – “Fellow man, you are my brother!”

This part of Herzl’s vision has yet to be realized.  It may perhaps sound utopian, and cynics may ridicule it.  However, to follow in Herzl’s path means to set national goals, and approach them decisively, even when these steps are ridiculed by short-sighted people.

“Not every man considered a madman is proven to be right 30 years later,” Herzl wrote. “However, in order that his rightness be proven 30 years later, one must be willing to be thought a madman at the outset.”

He understood that what seems impossible to implement today can be realized.  His vision of an independent Jewish state was realized.  However, the mission is not yet completed.  We must ensure that the State of Israel will continue to be a nation with a solid Jewish majority.  Without such a majority, the concept of a Jewish state becomes empty, and no more than a hollow motto.

This willingness, the courage to purse far-reaching political steps, characterized Herzl.  It is the duty of a responsible national leadership, following in the path of Herzl, in light of his doctrine and vision, to ensure a Jewish majority, thereby preserving the State of Israel as a Jewish state, in accordance with the dream of the visionary of the Jewish state, Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl.