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Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-751649
"Israel Is Tremendously Proud of Our Two-Way Alliance with the U.S."
(Jerusalem Post) Text of Israeli President Isaac Herzog's Speech - Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday in honor of Israel's 75th year of independence. His father, President Chaim Herzog, had addressed Congress in 1987 in honor of Israel's 40th year of independence. "In 1949, President Harry Truman met with the Chief Rabbi of the newly established State of Israel, my grandfather Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog, in the Oval Office....Against all odds, the Jewish people returned home and built a national home, which became a beautiful Israeli democracy, a mosaic of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians, secular, traditional and orthodox, of all denominations, and all possible views and lifestyles. A land which welcomed the ingathering of exiles from one hundred different countries." "Perhaps the greatest challenge Israel and the United States face at this time is the Iranian nuclear program. Let there be no doubt: Iran does not strive to attain nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran is building nuclear capabilities that pose a threat to the stability of the Middle East and beyond....Iran is the only nation on the planet publicly calling, plotting, and developing means to annihilate another nation, a member of the family of nations, the State of Israel....I am here to reiterate what every Israeli leader has declared for decades: the State of Israel is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon capabilities." "We are grateful to the United States for the necessary means you have provided us to keep our qualitative military edge, and to enable us to defend ourselves, by ourselves....We are also tremendously proud that ours is a two-way alliance, in which Israel has been making critical contributions to the national security and interests of the United States in numerous ways....When the U.S. is strong, Israel is stronger. And when Israel is strong, the U.S. is more secure." "Over the years, Israel has taken bold steps towards peace and made far-reaching proposals to our Palestinian neighbors....But it should be clear that one cannot talk about peace while condoning or legitimizing terror, implicitly or explicitly. True peace cannot be anchored in violence." "Palestinian terror against Israel or Israelis undermines any possibility for a future of peace between our peoples. Israelis are targeted while waiting for busses, while taking a stroll on the promenade, while spending time with their family. At the same time, successful terror attacks are celebrated, terrorists are glorified, and their families are financially rewarded for every Israeli they attack. This is inconceivable. It is a moral disgrace." "I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it. But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the State of Israel's right to exist. Questioning the Jewish people's right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism." "Over the past few months, the Israeli people have engaged in a heated and painful debate....In practice, the intense debate...is the clearest tribute to the fortitude of Israel's democracy....I am here to tell the American people, and each of you, that I have great confidence in Israeli democracy. Although we are working through sore issues, just like you, I know our democracy is strong and resilient. Israel has democracy in its DNA."