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Netanyahu: Israelis Do Not Need to Be Lectured about the Importance of Peace
(Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Responding to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's speech on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Israel is deeply grateful to the United States of America, to successive American administrations, to the American Congress, to the American people. We're grateful for the support Israel has received over many, many decades....I have no doubt that our alliance will endure the profound disagreement we have had with the Obama Administration and will become even stronger in the future." "But now I must express my deep disappointment with the speech today of John Kerry - a speech that was almost as unbalanced as the anti-Israel resolution passed at the UN last week....What he did was to spend most of his speech blaming Israel for the lack of peace by passionately condemning a policy of enabling Jews to live in their historic homeland and in their eternal capital, Jerusalem." "Hundreds of suicide bombings, thousands of rockets, millions of Israelis in bomb shelters are...the realities that the people of Israel had to endure because of mistaken policies, policies that at the time won the thunderous applause of the world....The Jewish people have sought their place under the sun for 3,000 years, and we're not about to be swayed by mistaken policies that have caused great, great damage." "Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders. Israel's hand has been extended in peace to its neighbors from day one....No one wants peace more than the people of Israel. Israel remains committed to resolving the outstanding differences between us and the Palestinians through direct negotiations. This is how we made peace with Egypt; this is how we made peace with Jordan; it's the only way we'll make peace with the Palestinians." "Last week's Security Council resolution...reflects a radical shift in U.S. policy towards the Palestinians on final status issues....That shift happened despite the Palestinians walking away from peace and from peace offers time and time again, despite their refusal to even negotiate peace for the past eight years, and despite the Palestinian Authority inculcating a culture of hatred towards Israel in an entire generation of young Palestinians." "This conflict is not about houses or communities in the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, the Gaza district or anywhere else. This conflict is and has always been about Israel's very right to exist....The persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state remains the core of the conflict and its removal is the key to peace. Palestinian rejection of Israel and support for terror are what the nations of the world should focus on if they truly want to advance peace."