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My friend Carole Solomon, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency,
The incoming new treasurer of the Jewish Agency, my dear friend Hagai Merom,
The Chairman of the Board of UJC, Bobby Goldberg,
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod, my dear friend Mark Liebler,   
There are many distinguished and important friends of mine sitting here, and I apologize in advance for not recognizing each and every one of you, except for one, and you will bear with me, this is Irwin Levy from Palm Beach, Florida, who celebrates his 80th birthday.

My dear friends, I also want to recognize the former Chairman of the Jewish Agency and one of the most distinguished and important leaders and supporters of the State of Israel and Jewish causes across the world, my dear friend, Mendel Kaplan, and, obviously, Jill Kaplan.

Dear friends,

This was the English part of my address to you today.  With your permission, I will make most of my address in Hebrew because I think that there are things that I want to say that will be understood by Israelis as well, and you will bear with me.

[Translation from Hebrew]:

Members of the Jewish Agency assembly,
Members of the Board of Trustees,
Dear friends,

These days – as all too often happens in Israel – are not easy days.  For a long time, we have been faced with murderous, radical, extreme terrorism, saturated with hatred, devoid of any willingness to compromise and motivated by the desire to bring about the elimination of the State of Israel.

What happened yesterday is not some sort of military confrontation, as someone has been trying to portray it.  The State of Israel pulled out completely from the Gaza Strip.  We are in a territory which is recognized by the entire world as a territory of the State of Israel.  Anyone who fires from the other side of the border, anyone who engages in violent activity of any sort against the citizens of the State of Israel, does so as part of a fanatic, fundamentalist, radical and terrorist world-view, aimed at undermining the very foundations of the State of Israel.   There is no chance that we will ever compromise with this.

We view the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, Abu-Mazen, and the Palestinian Authority Government, as directly responsible for yesterday’s terror attack, for the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and for the duty to bring him back safe and sound to the State of Israel.  This is not a matter of negotiation, it is not a matter of bargaining and it is not a matter of agreement – it is a matter of fundamental duty to abide by the international community’s elementary standards of decency, and anyone who wants to be part of the international community must adhere to these rules.  The question of release of prisoners is not at all on the agenda of the Government of Israel.

The recent manifestations of incessant shooting of Qassam rockets aimed at the residents of the south of Israel, and now this violent and severe provocation which took place yesterday morning, compel us to respond, and I state here that we will respond.  We will respond against any terrorist, against any terror organization, wherever they are, and you know – and they know – that we know how to reach them even in distant places, even when they think they are hiding, even when they believe they are safe.  We know how to get to them and target them, in order to prevent them from carrying out the terror activities which they are planning.

We are not operating under any pressure.  We have weighed our options with patience, but the time for comprehensive, harsh and severe action by the State of Israel gets shorter and shorter.  We will not wait indefinitely, we will not become the subject of terrorist coercion by Hamas, and we will use all forces at our disposal in order to bring about the cessation of terrorism and ensure that our IDF soldier will not be harmed and that he will quickly return to his family and his country.

At my instruction and the instruction of the Minister of Defense, the Gaza Strip is already closed and blocked at land and sea.  There is no entry or exit.  This is the first in a series of steps which we will consider, with patience but determination, and without compromise, in order to make it clear to everyone that this terror must stop.  We have never tolerated it, we are not tolerating it now.  The enlightened international community is not willing to tolerate the continuation of this radical, fundamentalist Muslim extremism.  The State of Israel will defend itself and its citizens in any way deemed appropriate in order to terminate the blood-thirsty radicalism of the terror organizations.  Any functionary, anyone who represents this authority, is responsible for its actions, and there will be no immunity, neither personal nor organizational, for any one of them.

I regret that this meeting, which I had hoped to dedicate to other issues, is dedicated primarily to a discussion on those issues which we have, for years, been making tremendous efforts to remove from the agenda.  I want to assure you that despite today’s hardships, the Government of Israel, under my leadership, will continue to explore every avenue to ultimately achieve negotiations with those elements who will be willing to accept the principles set forth by the international community for genuine, serious and responsible dialogue which will lead us to the start of a peace process with the Palestinians.

I say these things at exactly the same moment as I make a commitment that we will take harsh measures against the terror elements, because these two paths represent, as one, the policy of the government – uncompromising determination to fight terrorism anywhere and anytime in order to prevent further harm to Israeli residents, and at the same time, a genuine, decent and sincere effort to pave the way and create the conditions which may allow us to ultimately return to the negotiating table, in order to try to resolve this conflict, once and for all.

I said it more than once, and I say it again today – we have always favored negotiation.  Any agreement – if ever signed – is preferable to a solution reached through a unilateral process, without an agreement.  Therefore, we will look for every way, if the conditions are ripe, and will meet with Palestinians who are willing to conduct themselves fairly, act against terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist, primarily the Chairman of the PA who, in these very days, does not hesitate to speak out against the murderous methods of Hamas.  I respect and appreciate it.  However, if it transpires that the Palestinian Authority is incapable of eradicating the terror elements from within, if it transpires that Hamas continues to be the dominant body which dictates the public agenda of the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority, the State of Israel will seek other ways to change the reality, separate ourselves from the Palestinians and shape the borders of Israel, in order for there to always be a stable and permanent Jewish majority in the State of Israel, which will not be subject to any threat, and guarantee the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.

This is our path, this is our vision, this is our commitment, and this is what the government, which I have the honor of heading, will do.  In order for us to realize this vision, in order for us to ensure the conditions for the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state, we need something more, something important and central which has always been at the top of the agenda of Israeli society and has always been at the top of the agenda of the connection between ourselves and you.  I suppose you can already guess what I am referring to – large-scale Jewish immigration to the State of Israel.  There is nothing more important, nothing more significant, nothing which better guarantees the chances of Israel being further strengthened than large-scale Jewish immigration from around the world.

I wish to say these last words in English, in order for me to be sure that there are no misunderstandings between us on this issue.

[End of translation]

For many many years, the issue of immigration was the focal point, the central point, the most significant point in the relations between the State of Israel and the diasporas, and when I pledged to you today that the government under my leadership will make every possible effort to try to change the present realities in order to guarantee the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state with a stable Jewish majority that will never be in jeopardy in the State of Israel, and this will require a lot of sacrifice from us and it will obviously require risk taking by us because of the very unstable and uncertain circumstances which characterize the Middle East.  At the same time, I want to share with you what you all know – that we will never give up the dream to see as many as possible of you, and your children, coming to live in the State of Israel.

Do me a favor – don’t applaud me.  Talk to your children.  That’s a lot more important.  And I want, in a way, to make a deal with you.  I know, I am realistic enough, I am experienced enough to know that it is not so simple for people at this stage in your life to take a decision that you will leave everything where you live and come and live in the State of Israel.  But what you certainly can do is to encourage your children to participate in birthright, or in Massa, and to give themselves the opportunity which has been offered by generous and wonderful Jews from different parts of the world to visit the State of Israel and spend some time here.  Thousands have already been and many of them changed their lives as a result of that visit to the State of Israel. Maybe they will not reach that decision that we are so looking for easily or rapidly.  It may take some time.  But once they visit here, there is a new perspective to their lives.  Now this is something that you can certainly offer your children, and not only your children, all of the children of your communities in every part of the world – in Australia and in Canada and in America and in Europe, and other parts, and in Africa.  Wherever there are Jews, tell them that which you know – there are many exciting places in the world, many attractive places in the world, many generous countries that have been fair and caring and supporting Jews that were part of the community, but there is only one home, and home is here, for all of us.

And I want to be very fair with you – maybe we are not a place without some difficulties, maybe, and some troubles, and some constraints and some uncertainties.  I am aware of it.  So what? This is still, in spite of all these difficulties and all these pains which are so much part of our agenda, believe me, this is still the most fantastic place on earth.  This is the best and the greatest country in the world, this is our country, this is your country, this is where we feel that even when we have problems and difficulties and dangers and we need to fight, at least here we can fight for ourselves and for our future.  And there is no better place for your children.  And when someone tells me: yes, but there are difficulties, and you know, you are not always so friendly to the newcomers and sometimes your bureaucracy is not so easy to live with.  So, let me tell you, first of all, I think that some of the countries where you come from, they have their bureaucracies and they are not always the easiest to cope with.  But, the answer is different.  Every place you come from is great.  Come, and your children will come, and together, we will make this place greater.  It’s in our hands.  We can do it, and we want you, we would love them to come, we would love you to come, and we will do everything that together, this is will the place where we fulfill the life-long dream of the Jewish people – to live in peace, to live in security, to live in justice, to live in equality, to live in democracy, to be fair, to be friendly to our neighbors, and to do everything that they will be friendly to us.

When you go back to your communities, share with your communities my request, on behalf of the people of Israel.  I know that you will come back.  Please, next time come with all of your families, we will find a big enough ballroom to host all of you and to carry on and to continue to build a Jewish future for all of us.

Thank you very much.