Jerusalem, Israel
NOTABLE QUOTES
FROM ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU:
On the eighth day of Hanukkah when he
lit the last and final candle at the Western Wall, Netanyahu commented to all
who would listen to him: “The Western Wall has been ours for 3,000 years, and
it and the State of Israel will be ours forever.”
He spoke to reporters at the annual press conference in
Jerusalem during Hanukkah: “We cannot accept that when Jews build homes in
their ancient capital of Jerusalem the international community has no problem
finding its voice. But, when Palestinian leaders openly call for the
destruction of Israel, the one and only Jewish state, the world is silent... Israel will continue to defend its rights in
its ancient homeland, against those who seek to destroy it.”
After the Palestinians declared statehood at the United
Nations in 2012, Netanyahu said: “Israel
will not remain silent. We will speak in defense of our rights, and in defense
of what is right. Against those who wish to deny our past, and to wipe away our
future, Israel will continue to speak the truth about our rights in our ancient
homeland, and continue to defend our people against those who seek our
annihilation.”
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on
September 27, 2012, Netanyahu stated:
“Three thousand years ago, King David reigned over the Jewish State in
our eternal capital, Jerusalem. I say that to all those that proclaim that the
Jewish state has no roots in our region and it will soon disappear – We say in
Hebrew, ‘Am Yisrael Chai’, and the Jewish state will live forever.”
Another quote from that speech: “But at the end of Yom Kippur, we celebrate.
We celebrate the rebirth of Israel. We celebrate the heroism of our young men
and women who have defended our people with the indomitable courage of Joshua,
David, and the Maccabees of old. We celebrate the marvel of the flourishing
modern Jewish State.
In his 2011 speech before the UN General Assembly
Netanyahu proclaimed: “In my office in
Jerusalem there’s an ancient seal. It’s a signet ring of a Jewish official from
the times of the Bible. This seal was found right next to the Western Wall, and
it dates back 2,700 years, to the time of King Hezekiah. Now, there’s a name of
the Jewish official inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was Netanyahu.
That’s my last name. My first name, Benjamin, dates back a thousand years
earlier to Benjamin – Benyamin, the son of Jacob, who was also known as Israel.
Jacob and his 12 sons roamed these same hills of Judea and Samaria 4,000 years
ago, and there’s been a continuous Jewish presence in the land ever since.”
To the U.S. Congress in 2011, Netanyahu declared: “We’re not the British in India. We’re not
the Belgians in Congo. This is the land of our forefathers, the Land of Israel,
to which Abraham brought the idea of one God, where David set out to confront
Goliath and where Isaiah saw his vision of eternal peace. No distortion of
history could deny the 4,000-year-old bond between the Jewish People and the
Jewish land.”