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Distinguished Guests,
This evening’s moving event marks 40 years since the beginning of the struggle by the Jews of the former Soviet Union to realize their right to free immigration to Israel. The victory at the conclusion of this heroic struggle led not only to the opening of the gates and the immigration to Israel of over one million Jews, but, as Natan Sharansky said, it contributed greatly to the collapse of the Soviet regime, thus changing the face of the world.
This is not vain bragging. The Soviet regime could not withstand those brave Jews who stood up and demanded their basic right – to live in the land of Israel.
The inspiration came from here, from Israel: the great victory in the Six Day War, the liberation of Jerusalem and the Western Wall, the victory by the soldiers of the Israel Defense Force over those who were armed with the finest of Soviet weaponry – all these awakened a wave of national pride among the Jews of the Soviet Union, as the totalitarian regime attempted – unsuccessfully – to erase their national identity.
Boris Chochobievski, whose father was murdered at Babi Yar, was forced in May 1968 to leave his job after he protested the vilification of the State of Israel during a workers’ meeting. In September that same year, he ascended to the podium during a memorial service at Babi Yar during which not one word was mentioned regarding the Jewish identity of those who were slaughtered – and explicitly said: the victims were Jews and they should not be treated as people without an identity. In an open letter which he published, he wrote: “I am a Jew. I want to live in a Jewish country.”
This clear voice – which even today moves us – is an ancient one. It is the voice of Jonah the Prophet standing and stating in a clear voice in the heart of the storm, “I am a Hebrew.” This stance is the brave stand of David fearlessly facing Goliath and saying to him, “You come to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin – but I come to you with the Name of Hashem, Master of Legions.”
“I am a Jew,” said Boris, “and I want to live in a Jewish country.”
“It is my right just as it is the right of a Ukrainian to live in the Ukraine, the right of a Russian to live in Russia and the right of a Georgian to live in Georgia. I want to live in Israel. I want my children to learn Hebrew. I want to read Jewish newspapers, visit a Jewish theater. What is wrong with this? What is my crime?”
Boris was arrested, tried and sentenced to three years of hard labor – but this voice, the voice of those who said, “We are Jews, we want to live in Israel, the state of the Jewish people,” cannot be silenced again.
The Leningrad Trial, in which dozens were indicted – among them Eduard Kuznikov, Mark Dimshitz, Silvia Zalmonson and her two brothers, Wolf and Israel Zalmonson, Joseph Mendalwitz and others – for an attempt to hijack an airplane so that they could fly to freedom, aroused immense sympathy around the world. The Soviets wanted to use this trial in order to eradicate the Zionist movement across the Soviet Union, but the trial had the opposite effect: more and more groups of refuseniks left the underground and openly began to demand exit permits.
The activities of the immigration activists in the Soviet Union – and their brave stand against the attempts of the regime to shut them up – resonated among the Jewish communities around the world. They exerted pressure on the Soviet regime and forced it to ease the restrictions on exit permits. This easing of restrictions proved to the human rights activists and others opposed to the Soviet regime that even if it was impossible at the time to undermine the whole of the Soviet Union, the gradual wearing down which would eventually lead to the collapse of this regime could not be stopped. And you were the ones who did this. Those who shocked and undermined the foundation of that regime, are sitting here, along with hundreds of thousands of others who could not be with us tonight, but were there, standing courageous and without fear, without trepidation, in full strength, and filled with Jewish pride saying: “We want to go home.”
There is only one home. There are many places – places where even today Jews can live comfortably and perhaps, also, without fear – but there is only home in this entire world, in this entire great world. There is only one place that is our home and we have no other. It is this land, the Land of Israel, which we will protect and fight for, for our entire lives, forever.
Alongside the dramatic acts of bravery and strength – and many people sitting here played roles in these acts, leading them and setting unparalleled personal examples. There is also that splendid and moving letter written on August 26, 1969, by 18 religious families from Georgia, a letter that cannot be forgotten:
“We, 18 Jewish families from Georgia, request that you assist us to leave for Israel,” they wrote to the UN, adding: “It cannot be understood how, at the end of the 20th Century, people can be prevented from living where they want to live.” At the end of this letter they wrote, “We know – our call will reach human beings. We do not demand much. Only that we be allowed to leave for the land of our ancestors.” And they left; tens of thousands of Georgian Jews left, and today, they are an inseparable part of the might, spirit and strength of the State of Israel.
The struggle of the Jews of the Soviet Union changed not only the face of the Soviet Union; it changed the face of Israel. I remember those distant days of the early ‘70s, I remember the days of the early ‘90s. I remember this immense wave, its strength, its joy, its enthusiasm, your pride which you brought here. I see and recognize how you changed the face of the State of Israel in every facet of life: in academia, the military, the economy, in industry, business, music, art, culture; in every aspect of life. This great wave of immigration has greatly contributed to building a strong force the likes of which the State of Israel has never seen. Well done!
I must mention something personal I once told my friend Natan Sharansky in an intimate moment of candor, and I hope that Natan will not be upset with me for telling this story to you, because in a sense, you are all part of this story. I told Natan that I had served almost 35 years in public service – then it was a little less. I was elected to the Knesset for the first time in ’73. I have served in the Knesset ever since, and perhaps even before as a political activist – during all the dramatic events, the greatest that the State of Israel has experienced throughout the years. I told him and I will tell you too, that today from my position as Prime Minister of Israel, the most exciting moment I experienced in my public life, ever since I can remember, the moment I will never forget, the moment which moved me and brought me to tears was the moment when I was on the Knesset floor and the then-Speaker of the Knesset called on a member of Knesset to ascend the podium and swear the loyalty oath as a Minister in the Israeli Government. This man who sits here with us, Natan Sharansky, stepped up to the podium and said: “I, Natan Sharansky,” and read his loyalty oath as a Minister in the Israeli Government. When I saw Natan standing at the podium as someone democratically elected in the sovereign State of Israel as an MK and then as a Minister, I looked at him and asked myself: “Is this moment real? This man and these people were stronger, more determined, and bolder than the whole of the Russian Empire, which they subdued, and broke the barriers and came to Israel. Those who had the strength to do that can face anything the world has to throw at them.” I owe to you this unparalleled profound emotional moment and I do not believe I will ever experience one like it again in my public life – in our public lives.
When Natan Sharansky landed in Israel at Ben-Gurion Airport 12 years after his forced separation from his wife Avital, he told her – “Sorry I was a little late.” In a certain sense, all Jews in the former Soviet Union were a little late, but eventually they arrived – and the great Jewish family reunion between the Jews of Israel and the Jews of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States finally came about.
This, of course, was not the end of the chapter of immigration. There are still many Jews in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. There are still many Jews in communities all over the world, in North and South America, in Australia and South Africa, and all across Europe. I tell you here today, there is nothing more important and meaningful to secure the future, existence, and security of the State of Israel than another wave of immigration. There is nothing we want more than the arrival of additional immigrants in Israel. I know that once they arrive we will not always be very nice, because we have a tendency to not be very nice at first. However, you know, and they will know as well, that there is nothing we love more than Jews who make their way home.
I want to conclude by saying that you are the true heroes of this evening during which we mark 40 years of struggle. However, there were other faceless heroes, those same representatives that, at great risk, went all across the former Soviet Union – the representatives of Nativ, the organization which served as the long, supporting and encouraging arm of the State of Israel, extended to the Jews behind the Iron Curtain. They too are part of this story of bravery. As are the Jewish Agency which we mocked and criticized, the Jewish Agency that stood at the forefront of the struggle for the Jews of the Soviet Union, and later assisted them in the absorption process in Israel together with the Ministry for Immigrant Absorption, and other Governmental bodies. They too, are a part of this heroic story.
To all of them, to all those who helped organize this evening, and especially to you, I tell you that the people of Israel are proud of you, the people of Israel love you, the State of Israel is strong thanks to you as well.
Thank you.
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