The distinguished Minister of Welfare and Social Services and Minister of Diaspora Affairs, and Chairman of the Taglit-Birthright Israel Stirring Committee, my friend, Isaac Herzog.  We in Israel say "Yitzchak" Herzog,
Members of Knesset,
Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Zeev Bielsky,
My friend, the former minister, Mr. Yossi  Beilin, also a Member of Knesset,
The Taglit-Birthright Israel Co-founding Chairmen, Charles Bronfman, and Michael and Judy Steinhardt,
The Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Raanan Dinur,
The CEO of Taglit-Birthright Israel, Dr. Shimshon Shoshani,
The Taglit-Birthright Israel leading philanthropist, my friend Lynn Schusterman,
Chair of the Birthright Israel Foundation, Don Hawk,
Representing the United Jewish Communities, Leonard Cole,
Birthright Israel Foundation Board Members, Marlene Post, R. Levitt, Laurie Blitzer, Lynne Koeppel and Bonnie Tisch,
Taglit-Birthright Israel donors Mr. Leonid Nevzlin, my friends Carrie and Gary Winick, Cole and Babs Asper, Debbie and Warren Kimel and all the 200 leaders of Israel's Museum International Council who came from so many different countries to be with us today,
And finally, most important, you, the Birthright participants,

I must say that I've been to many of these events in the past, because I always felt that of all the different projects, of all the different operations in the Jewish world, this one, Birthright Taglit is the most important, the most significant, the most valuable and the most influential for the future of the Jewish people, and I am proud and I am happy to have all of you here. 

I'll tell you something, I know more or less where you come from, I heard some of the countries.  I wouldn't try to mention all the names of the countries that you came from because I'm afraid I'll miss one, but I know Brazil, I know America, I knew Europe, I know Russia, I know everyone.  I want to tell you something and I repeat what I said before, to your predecessors, we know that you all come from great countries.  You come from countries that give you an opportunity for many things, and I guess many of you come from places where it's great to live.  You have wonderful opportunities to study in good academic institutions.  You have affluence, you have wealth, you live well, but there is only one place and you heard it from some of the leaders and the founders and the donors who spoke to you, and you saw them on T.V.  There is only one place in the world which is ours - and this is our place, the State of Israel.  This is not another country.  This is your home.  There is no other home in the whole world except this one. 

I know the founders, I know the donors, I have met them many times and I was always thrilled by their generosity, by their willingness to give so much of their own in order to make this project, this operation, this wonderful experience, available to all of you.  There is one thing which I must tell you that we want that will happen as a result of this, and this is our agenda.  It may not be the agenda of your parents, maybe the agenda of your family, I don't know, but this is our agenda:  We want that after you go back go home, after you have absorbed the experiences that you had the unique opportunity to go through when you visited Israel, after you have finished your studies if you choose to do so, we want you to come back.  We want you to come back because this country loves you, this country needs you, this country wants you, this country is waiting for all of you to come.  Israel is the greatest place on earth, but when you come and you live with us it will be even greater, it will be even happier, it will be more powerful.  And we hope that the day will be not too distant, that the day will come that we will have peace with all our neighbors, and with all the power, with all the talents, with all the potential that we have with the Jewish people, we will be able to make this place the best place on earth. 

Thank you for coming - and come back.  Israel is waiting for all of you to come here and be here and live here, and build your families here and build your future here, and build our future with you in your home, in the State of Israel.

Thank you very much.