Remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) 2014 Policy Conference

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

I -- I bring you greetings from Jerusalem -- (cheers, applause) -- the eternal, undivided capital of Israel and the Jewish people. (Cheers, applause.)

I want to thank all of you for working so tirelessly to strengthen the alliance between Israel and America. American -- American support for Israel and for that alliance is at an all-time high. And I can tell you that there is no country on earth that is more pro-American than Israel. (Applause.)

So I want to thank the leaders of AIPAC, the officers of AIPAC, the 14,000 delegates of AIPAC -- (cheers, applause) -- the members of Congress, the members of the Israeli government -- Tzipi Livni, Limor Livnat, Yuval Steinitz, Deputy Minister Elkin, members of the Knesset -- and our two able ambassadors, the ambassador of Israel to the United States, Ron Dermer -- (applause) -- and the ambassador of the United States to Israel, Dan Shapiro, and our U.N. ambassador, Ron Prosor. Everyone, I want to thank you all for safeguarding and nurturing the most precious alliance in the world, the alliance between Israel and the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

My friends, I've -- I've come here to draw a clear line.

You know that I like to draw lines -- (laughter) -- especially red ones. But the line I want to draw today is the line between life and death, between right and wrong, between the blessings of a brilliant future and the curses of a dark past.

I stood very close to that dividing line two weeks ago. I visited an Israeli army field hospital in the Golan Heights. Now, that field hospital wasn't set up for Israelis. It was set up for Syrians. (Applause.) Israelis treated nearly a thousand wounded Syrians -- men, women and a lot of children. They come to our border fence bleeding and desperate. Often they're near death.

And on my visit I met two such Syrians, a shellshocked father and his badly wounded 5-year-old boy. A few days earlier the man's wife and baby daughter were blown to bits by Iranian bombs dropped by Assad's air force. Now the grieving father was holding his little boy in his arms, and Israeli doctors were struggling to save the boy's life.

I heard from them and from the other patients there what all the Syrians who've come to be treated in Israel are saying. They all tell the same story. They say, all these years, Assad lied to us. He told us that Iran was our friend and Israel was our enemy. But Iran is killing us, and Israel, Israel is saving us. (Applause.)

Those Syrians discovered what you've always known to be true: In the Middle East, bludgeoned by butchery and barbarism, Israel is humane; Israel is compassionate; Israel is a force for good. (Applause.)

That border, that runs a hundred yards east of that field hospital, is the dividing line between decency and depravity, between compassion and cruelty. On the one side stands Israel, animated by the values we cherish, values that move us to treat sick Palestinians, thousands of them, from Gaza. They come to our hospitals. We treat them despite the fact that terrorists from Gaza hurl thousands of rockets at our cities.

It's those same values that inspires Israeli medics and rescuers to rush to the victims of natural disasters across the world, to Haiti, to Turkey, to Japan, the Philippines, to many other stricken lands.

Now, on the other side of that moral divide, steeped in blood and savagery, stand the forces of terror -- Iran, Assad, Hezbollah, al- Qaida and many others. Did you ever hear about Syria sending a field hospital anywhere? Did you ever hear about Iran sending a humanitarian delegation overseas? No? You missed that memo? (Laughter.) You know why? You know why you haven't heard anything about that? Because the only thing that Iran sends abroad are rockets, terrorists and missiles to murder, maim and menace the innocent. (Applause.)

And what the -- what the Iranian people -- or rather, what the Iranian regime does abroad is just as -- is similar to what they do to their own people. They execute hundreds of political prisoners, they throw thousands more into their jails, and they repress millions in a brutal theocracy.

If you want to understand the moral divide that separates Israel from its enemies, just listen to Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, Iran's terror proxy in Lebanon. He said this. He said: Iran and Hezbollah love death and Israel loves life.

And that's why, he said, Iran and Hezbollah will win and Israel will lose.

Well, he's right about the first point. They do glorify death, and we do sanctify life. But he's dead wrong on the second point. (Applause.) It's precisely because we love life that Israel shall win. (Cheers, applause.)

In the past year Iran's radical regime has tried to blur this moral divide. It wields out its smiling president and its smooth- talking foreign minister. But if you listen to their words, their soothing words, they don't square with Iran's aggressive actions.

Iran says it only wants a peaceful nuclear program. So why is it building a heavy water reactor, which has no purpose in a peaceful nuclear program? Iran says it has noting to hide. So why does it ban inspectors from its secret military sites? Why doesn't it divulge its military nuclear secret -- the secrets of its military nuclear activities? They absolutely refuse to say a word about that. Iran says it's not building nuclear weapons. So why does it continue to build ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, whose only purpose is to carry nuclear warheads?

See, unlike Scud missiles, that are limited to a range of a few hundred miles, ICBMs can cross vast oceans. And they can strike, right now or very soon, the Eastern seaboard of the United States -- Washington -- and very soon after that, everywhere else in the United States, up to L.A.

And the important point to make is this: Iran's missiles can already reach Israel, so those ICBMs that they're building, they're not intended for us. You remember that beer commercial, "this Bud's for you"? (Laughter.) Well, when you see Iran building ICBMs, just remember, America, that Scud's for you. (Scattered applause.)

Now, it's not only that -- only the Americans got that joke. (Laughter.) It's not only that Iran doesn't walk the walk. In the last few weeks, they don't even bother to talk the talk. Iran's leaders say they won't dismantle a single centrifuge, they won't discuss their ballistic missile program. And guess what tune they're singing in Tehran? It's not "God Bless America," it's "death to America." And they chant this as brazenly as ever. Some charm offensive.

And here's my point. Iran continues to stand unabashedly on the wrong side of the moral divide. And that's why we must continue to stand unequivocally on the right side of that divide. We must oppose Iran and stand up for what is right. (Applause.)

My friends, yesterday I met with President Obama, with Vice President Biden, with Secretary Kerry and with the leaders of the U.S. Congress. We had very good meetings. I thanked them for their strong support for Israel -- (applause) -- for our security, including in the vital area of missile defense.

I said that the greatest threat to our common security is that of a nuclear-armed Iran. We must prevent Iran from having the capability to produce nuclear weapons. And I want to reiterate that point. Not just to prevent them from having the weapon, but to prevent them from having the capacity to make the weapon. (Applause.) That means -- that means we must dismantle Iran's heavy water reactor and its underground enrichment facilities. We must get rid of Iran's centrifuges and its stockpiles of enriched uranium and we must insist that Iran fully divulge the military dimensions of its nuclear program.

Now 17 countries around the world have peaceful nuclear energy programs. They're doing this without spending centrifuges, without enriching uranium, without operating heavy water facilities and without conducting military nuclear research.

You know why Iran insists on doing all these things that the other peaceful countries don't do? It's because Iran doesn't want a peaceful nuclear program, Iran wants a military nuclear program.

I said it here once, I'll say it here again: If it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, then what is it?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: A duck.

PRIME MIN. NETANYAHU: Well, it's ain't a chicken -- (laughter) -- and it's certainly not a dove. It's still a nuclear duck. (Applause.) Unfortunately, the leading powers of the world are talking about leaving Iran with the capability to enrich uranium.

I hope they don't do that because that would be a grave error. It would leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power. It would enable Iran to rapidly develop nuclear weapons at a time when the world's attention is focused elsewhere. And we see, as we speak, that that could happen. In one part of the world today, tomorrow in another part -- maybe North Korea.

So just remember what -- (inaudible) -- wrote a few years ago. He wrote this in a rare moment of candor. He said: If a country can enrich uranium, even to a low level, it can effectively produce nuclear weapons. Precisely. And leaving Iran as a threshold nuclear power, would deliver a death-blow to nonproliferation. Iran is an outlaw state. It's violated multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting enrichment.

If we allow this outlaw terrorist state to enrich uranium, how could we seriously demand that any other country not enrich uranium?

My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the floodgates. It really would open up a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and around the world. That must not happen. (Applause.) And we will make sure it does not happen.

Because letting the worst terrorist regime on the planet get atomic bombs would endanger everyone, and it certainly would endanger Israel since Iran openly calls for our destruction.

70 years ago, our people, the Jewish people, were left for dead. We came back to life. We will never be brought to the brink of extinction again. (Applause.)

As prime minister as Israel, I will do whatever I must do to defend the Jewish state of Israel. (Applause.)

You know, I'm often -- I'm often asked whether Israel truly wants diplomacy to succeed, and my answer is, of course we want diplomacy to succeed, because no country has a greater interest in the peaceful elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat. But this threat -- this threat will not be eliminated by just any agreement, only by an agreement which requires Iran to fully dismantle its military nuclear capability. (Applause.)

Now you know how you get that agreement with Iran? Not by relieving pressure but by adding pressure. (Applause.) Pressure is what brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place, and only more pressure will get to abandon their nuclear weapons program. Greater pressure on Iran will not make war more likely; it will make war less likely -- (applause) -- because the greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the pressure on Iran and more credible the threat of force on Iran, the smaller the chance that force will ever have to be used.

Ladies and gentlemen, peace is Israel's highest aspiration. I'm prepared to make a historic peace with our Palestinian neighbors -- (applause) -- a peace that would end a century of conflict and bloodshed. Peace would be good for us. Peace would be good for the Palestinians. But peace would also open up the possibility of establishing formal ties between Israel and leading countries in the Arab world.

Many Arab leaders -- and believe me, this is a fact, not a hypothesis, it's a fact -- many Arab leaders today already realize that Israel is not their enemy, that peace with the Palestinians would turn our relations with them and with many Arab countries into open and thriving relationships. (Applause.)

The combination of Israeli innovation and Gulf entrepreneurship, to take one example -- I think this combination could catapult the entire region forward. I believe that together, we can resolve actually some of the region's water and energy problems. You know, Israeli has half the rainfall we had 65 years ago. We have 10 times the population. Our GDP has shot up, thank God -- GDP per capita, up. So we have half the rainfall, 10 times the population, and our water use goes up. And which country in the world doesn't have water problems? Yep. Israel. (Applause.)

Why? Because of technology, of innovation, of systems. We could make that available to our Arab neighbors throughout the region that is not exactly blessed with water. We could solve the water problems. We could solve the energy problems. We could improve agriculture. We could improve education with e-learning, health with diagnostics on the Internet. All of that is possible. We could better the lives of hundreds of millions. So we all have so much to gain from peace.

That's why I want to thank the indomitable John Kerry. You know, New York -- (applause) -- and Tel-Aviv, they're the cities that never sleep. John Kerry is definitely the secretary of state who never sleeps.

And -- (applause) -- and I've got the bags under my eyes to prove it. We're working together, literally day and night, to seek a durable peace, a peace anchored in solid security arrangements and the mutual recognition of two nation-states. (Applause.)

Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people -- (applause) -- where the civil rights of all citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike, are guaranteed. The land of Israel is the place where the identity of the Jewish people was forged.

It was in Hebron that Abraham blocked the cave of the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs. It was in Bethel that Jacob dreamed his dreams. It was in Jerusalem that David ruled his kingdom. We never forget that, but it's time the Palestinians stopped denying history. (Applause.)

Just as Israel is prepared to recognize a Palestinian state, the Palestinians must be prepared to recognize a Jewish state. (Applause.) President Abbas, recognize the Jewish state, and in doing so, you would be telling your people, the Palestinians, that while we might have a territorial dispute, the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own is beyond dispute. (Applause.)

You would be telling Palestinians to abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees, or amputating parts of the Negev and the Galilee. In recognizing the Jewish state, you would finally making clear that you are truly prepared to end the conflict. So recognize the Jewish state. No excuses, no delays, it's time. (Applause.)

Now, my friends, it may take years, it may take decades for this formal acceptance of Israel to filter down through all layers of Palestinian society. So if this piece is to be more than a brief interlude between wars, Israel needs long-term security arrangements on the ground to protect the peace and to protect Israel if the peace unravels. You see, those security arrangements would always be important, but they're even more important and critical today when the entire Middle East is unraveling. Three years ago, our region was a very different place. Can anyone sitting here, anyone listening to us, can anyone tell me and be sure what the Middle East will look like five, 10, 20 years from now? We cannot bet the security of Israel on our fondest hopes.

You know, in the Middle East, that's usually a losing bet. We should always hope for the best, but in the Middle East we have to be prepared for the worst. And despite the best of hopes, international peacekeeping forces sent to Lebanon, Gaza, Sinai, the Golan Heights, they didn't prevent those areas from becoming armed strongholds against Israel.

If we reach an agreement, as I hope, with the Palestinians, I don't delude myself. That peace will most certainly come under attack -- constant attack by Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaida and others. And experience has shown that foreign peacekeepers -- foreign peacekeeping forces, well, that they keep the peace only when there is peace.

But when they're subjected to repeated attacks, those forces eventually go home. So as long as the peace is under assault, the only force that can be relied on to defend the peace and defend Israel is the force defending its own home -- the Israeli Army, the brave soldiers of the IDF. (Applause.)

I'm going to reveal to you a secret. This position may not win me universal praise.

That occasionally happens when I (state ?) our positions. But I'm charged with protecting the security of my people, the people of Israel. And I will never gamble with the security of the one and only Jewish state. (Applause.)

So as we work in the coming days, in the coming weeks, to forge a durable peace, I hope that the Palestinian leadership will stand with Israel and the United States on the right side of the moral divide, the side of peace, reconciliation and hope.

You can clap. You want to encourage them to do that. (Applause.) I do, and I know you do too.

Thank you.

My friends, one movement that's definitely on the wrong side of the moral divide is the movement to boycott Israel, the so-called BDS. (Applause.) That movement will fail. (Applause.)

Let me tell you why. (Sustained applause.) I want to explain to you why.

Beyond our traditional trading partners, countries throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, where I'll soon be going to, these countries are flocking to Israel. They're not coming to Israel; they're flocking to Israel.

They want Israeli technology to help transform their countries as it has ours. And it's not just the small countries that are coming to Israel, it's also the superpowers. You know, the other superpowers: Apple, Google -- (laughter) -- Microsoft, Intel, Facebook, Yahoo. They come because they want to benefit from Israel's unique ingenuity, dynamism and innovation.

And I could tell you the BDS boycott movement is not going to stop that anymore than the Arab boycott movement could stop Israel from becoming a global technological power. They are going to fail. (Applause.) And in the knowledge based century, the knowledge based economy, Israel's best economic day are ahead of it. Mark my words. (Applause.)

Now, wait, wait. I don't want you to get complacent -- (laughter) -- because the fact that they're going to fail doesn't mean that the BDS movement shouldn't be vigorously opposed. They should be opposed because they're bad for peace and because BDS is just plain wrong. (Applause.)

Most people in the BDS movement don't seek a solution of two states for two peoples. On the contrary, they openly admit that they seek the dissolution of the only state for the Jewish people. They're not seeking peace, they're not seeking reconciliation. But some of their gullible fellow travelers actually do believe that BDS advances peace.

Well, the opposite is true. BDS sets back peace because it hardens Palestinian positions and it makes mutual compromise less likely.

But I think these are all important points, but not the critical important. The critical thing is that BDS is morally wrong. It turns morality on its head. This is the main point. And I can tell you, it's not that Israel, like all states, is not beyond criticism. We have a boisterous democracy where everyone has an opinion. And believe me, no one in Israel is shy about expressing it -- about anything. In Israel, self-criticism is on steroids. (Laughter.)

But the BDS movement is not about legitimate criticism. It's about making Israel illegitimate. It presents a distorted and twisted picture of Israel to the naive and to the ignorant. BDS is nothing but a farce. Here's why, listen: In dozens of countries academics are imprisoned for their beliefs. So the universities of which country does BDS want to sanction and boycott? Israel -- the one country in the Middle East where professors can say, write and teach what they want.

Throughout the Middle East, Christians are fleeing for their lives. So which country does BDS want churches to divest from? You got it -- Israel, the one country in the Middle East that protects Christians and protects the right of worship for everyone. (Applause.)

Throughout the Middle East -- throughout the Middle East, journalists are jailed, gays are hanged and women are denied their most basic rights. So which country does BDS want to sanction? Take a guess. Israel -- the only country in the region with a free press, a progressive gays' rights record and where women have presided over each of the three branches of government. (Applause.)

Now, when you hear this -- and anybody can verify this -- so you have to wonder, how could anyone fall for the BS in BDS? (Laughter, applause.) How can they fall for this?

Well, you shouldn't be surprised. Throughout history, people believed the most outrageously absurd things about the Jews, that we were using the blood of children to bake matzos, that we were spreading the plague throughout Europe, that we were plotting to take over the world. Yeah, but you can say how can educated people, how could educated people today believe the nonsense spewed by BDS about Israel? Well, that shouldn't surprise you either. Some of history's most influential thinkers and writers -- Voltaire, Dostoyevsky, T.S. Eliot, many, many others -- spread the most preposterous lies about the Jewish people. It's hard to shed prejudices that have been ingrained in consciousness over millennia.

And from antiquity to the Middle Ages to modern times, Jews were boycotted, discriminated against and singled out.

Today the singling out of the Jewish people has turned into the singling out of the Jewish state. So you see, attempts to boycott, divest and sanction Israel, the most threatened democracy on Earth, are simply the latest chapter in the long and dark history of anti- Semitism. (Applause.) Those who wear -- those who wear the BDS label should be treated exactly as we treat any anti-Semite or bigot. They should be exposed and condemned. The boycotters should be boycotted. (Applause, cheers.)

Everyone should know what the letters B-D-S really stand for: bigotry, dishonesty and shame. (Applause.) And those who -- those who oppose BDS, like Scarlett Johansson, they should be applauded. (Cheers, applause.)

Scarlett, I have one thing to say to you: Frankly, my dear, I DO give a damn. (Applause.) And I know all of you give a damn, as do decent people everywhere who reject hypocrisy and lies and cherish integrity and truth.

My friends, on behalf of the people of Israel, I bring you message from Jerusalem, the cradle of our common civilization, the crucible of our shared values. It's a message from the Bible. (In Hebrew.) (Applause.) I have put before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life so that you and your offspring may live.

Ladies and gentlemen, my friends, never forget -- America and Israel stand for life. We stand together on the right side of the moral divide. We stand together on the right side of history. (Applause.) So stand tall, stand strong, stand proud. (Cheers, applause.)

Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you very much. Thank you all. Keep doing a great job. (Applause.) Thank you.

Obama and his administration should stay away from this year’s AIPAC Conference It’s time to force AIPAC to choose between real bipartisanship and hawkish policies that Obama says could lead to war.

By Peter Beinart | Jan. 29, 2014 | 12:36 PM

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Right about now, the Obama White House is probably trying to decide whom to send to address AIPAC’s annual policy conference, set for early March. In 2010, it sent Hillary Clinton. In 2013, it sent Joe Biden. In 2011 and 2012, it sent Obama itself.
This year, Team Obama should try something different: Send no one at all.
AIPAC, after all, is working hard to pass Iran sanctions legislation. Obama insists such legislation will ruin his chances of reaching a diplomatic deal with Tehran, a deal that would constitute the most important foreign policy achievement of his presidency. As a general rule, presidents don’t reward organizations fighting their top agenda items by dispatching high-ranking officials to speak at their conferences. I doubt the White House is sending anyone to this April’s annual meeting of the NRA.
Historically, these normal political rules haven’t applied to AIPAC. The organization has stayed on good terms with administrations of both parties even while pushing back against White House pressure on Israeli leaders to make concessions to the Palestinians. But by pushing an Iran sanctions bill right now, AIPAC is doing something unprecedented. It’s one thing to quietly gum up the peace process. It’s another to lead the charge for legislation that the White House has warned could lead to war.
If the White House snubs AIPAC, some in the organized Jewish world will declare it an offense against American Jews as a whole. But that’s silly. Top Obama officials endlessly attend, or host, Jewish-themed events. Last year, John Kerry spoke to the American Jewish Committee. Joe Biden addressed J Street. Obama attended an annual Passover Seder. The White House hosted an annual Hanukkah party. In past years, it’s even hosted receptions for Jewish American Jewish Heritage Month, whatever that is.
The White House can withstand the criticism it would receive for not sending a speaker to AIPAC, especially since Obama is not running again. Most American Jews wouldn’t care, and anyway, most American Jews support Obama’s Iran policy. 
The real damage would be to AIPAC, an organization currently trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, AIPAC must stay on good terms with Benjamin Netanyahu, who hates Obama’s nuclear diplomacy. It must also satisfy conservative donors who might defect to smaller, more right-wing Jewish organizations—as Sheldon Adelson did when AIPAC backed aid to the Palestinians in 2007 —if they felt AIPAC wasn’t adequately combatting Obama’s policies. On the other, AIPAC includes lots of Democrats who want the organization to remain friendly with a Democratic president. And AIPAC needs an open door to the Obama administration in order to play the behind-the-scenes intermediary role between Israeli and American leaders on which it prides itself.
The appearance of bipartisanship is essential to AIPAC’s business model. And yet that bipartisanship is, in some ways, a ruse. The group’s hawkish foreign policy stances on both Iran and the Palestinians are far more in line with Republican than Democratic public opinion. Demographically, AIPAC is increasingly populated by Orthodox Jews, who - in contrast to American Jewry as whole—generally vote Republican. It’s true that the Iran sanctions bill AIPAC is pushing has garnered 19 Democratic—along with 43 Republican—co-sponsorships. But congressional sources say bluntly that many of those Democratic senators are only supporting the bill because AIPAC, and like-minded groups, want them to.
By refusing to help AIPAC have it both ways, the Obama White House might cause some of the Democrats in the organization to question the group’s current Iran strategy. And it would fuel the public perception—which has been building since the birth of the dovish J Street in 2009—that AIPAC is a Republican-leaning group. As former AIPAC staffer Steve Rosen told Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last week, “AIPAC puts a premium on bipartisan consensus and maintaining communication with the White House.” Not procuring a high-level administration speaker for its annual conference “would be devastating to AIPAC’s image of bipartisanship.”
I doubt the White House will take my advice. For one thing, it may feel it owes AIPAC for supporting its short-lived push for military action against Syria last year. And on Israel, this administration rarely plays hardball. A few months after Benjamin Netanyahu all but endorsed Mitt Romney, Obama flew to Jerusalem and practically serenaded the Israeli leader.
But if Obama doesn’t make AIPAC pay a price for its sanctions push now, the group will likely keep undermining his diplomatic efforts with Iran for the rest of his presidency. A frank expression of disapproval, by contrast, might embolden those congressional Democrats who quietly disagree with AIPAC’s agenda, but fear publicly saying so.
Early in his career, according to legend, Boston Celtics center Bill Russell found himself repeatedly manhandled by rougher players. His coach, Red Auerbach, urged him to throw an elbow, not discreetly, but during a nationally televised game so everyone would see. Russell did, and the rough play subsided.
That’s what Obama should do now. He should treat AIPAC by the same rules he’d apply to another other lobby that threatens his presidential agenda. If he throws that elbow, my guess is AIPAC—and many others in Washington—will remember it for a very long time.

Rabbi Shmuley & Cory Booker at AIPAC - Chicago 2008

AIPAC; RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS

http://bcove.me/6tbb4bby

Beloved friends, I'm actually only here to give you a change of accents; I just hope you don't need simultaneous translation. (Laughter.) But I'm here as part of an English delegation to give you the view from Europe. And the view from Europe is that AIPAC is something out of this world. It is just amazing.

Friends, it reminds me, if I can just you this story, lovely story about Yossi, an Israeli, who opened a falafel bar in Golders Green. Golders Green is the English Brooklyn. And Yossi's falafel bar was one day visited by the tax inspector who was reading through his books and he was saying, Mr. Yossi, this falafel of yours, this is a kind of Jewish takeaway; am I right?

And Yossi, with a big smile, says, yes. The tax inspector says, Mr. Yossi, I understand where you've written down as expenses rent, electricity, materials; but why have you written down under business expenses two trips to Miami and three trips to Tel Aviv? And Yossi, with a big smile, said, that's easy; we deliver! (Laughter.)

Friends, AIPAC, you deliver. You deliver—(applause)—a strong Israel and a strong Jewish people. May God bless you and may you continue to bless the people in the state of Israel.

Friends, I want to tell you how things are looking like in Europe today. When I was a child, there was one line in the Haggadah that I never understood. [Hebrew.] It was not one alone who stood against us. [Hebrew.] But in every generation they did so. And always as a child I used to say, that belongs to my parents' generation; not to us; not to us born after the Holocaust. I grew up; in all my life I never experienced a single incident of anti-Semitism until 11 years ago.

Eleven years ago, our youngest daughter, who was studying at a British university, came home in tears. She had been at an anti-globalization rally which quickly turned into a tirade first against America, then against Israel, then against Jews. And with tears in her eyes she said, Dad, they hate us. That is a terrible situation, but it's reality in Europe today.

In the last two weeks there have been stories about the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in France by 58 percent in a single year; in Belgium, 30 percent; in Denmark, doubled in the space of three years. In England—in France and Italy, English football supporters were attacked not because they were Jews but because they were supporting a football team many of whose supporters happened to be Jews. And I don't know whether you read this—I'm sure you did—last Wednesday the Turkish president, Mr. Erdogan, called Zionism a "crime against humanity."

I have to tell you that what we grew up with, "never again," is beginning to sound like "ever again." And at the heart of it is hostility to Israel. Of course, not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. But make no mistake what has happened.

In the Middle Ages Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th century and the 20th, they were hated because of their race. Today, when it's no longer done to hate people for their religion or their race, today they are hated because of their state. The reason changes, but the hate stays the same. Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism. (Applause.)

And friends, I've come here to tell you that I believe the example of AIPAC must now inform Jewish communities around Europe, because we have to stand up and fight and we have to stand up and win. Friends, anti-Zionism is today rife throughout the world. All our students on campuses know about it. And what is our crime? What is Israel's crime? It's that we have chutzpah.

Let me tell you the chutzpah we have. After all, there are 56 Islamic states, there are 125 nations whose majority is Christian, and now Jews want a state of their own. How dare they? And it's so big. Friends, you know how big Israel is?

There's a lovely park in a little corner of South Africa. I don't know if you've ever been there. It's a sort of wild game reserve where you can see lions and giraffes and elephants and hippopotamuses—or hippopotami, depending on whether or not they've had a classical education. (Laughter.) It is called the Kruger National Park.

Friends, Israel is the same size as Kruger National Park. How dare they want something that big? Don't Jews by now know that their role in history is to be scattered, dispersed, homeless, and defenseless? And now they want a space where they can defend themselves. How dare they? Friends, we dare because we are human. We dare because to be denied the right to self-defense is to be treated as less than human. Mr. Erdogan, it is anti-Zionism that is a crime against humanity. (Applause.)

How—how much longer—(applause)—how much longer must the Jewish people have to fight for the right to be? Let me tell you, friends, what is Israel. Elaine and I have just come back; just 10 days ago we were on a series of missions in Israel. And let us remind you what we saw, what you saw, what everyone sees but the world does not see.

We saw school after school and youth village after youth village where children at-risk or children from dysfunctional or abusive families are taken and given the care that will give them hope and a future in life. We saw youth villages where Ethiopian children are given the means suddenly to make that leap across centuries and cultures and find their own excellence. We saw the power of love to transform lives.

We saw hospitals. I don't know if you've been recently to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa. In Haifa, the Rambam Hospital is building the world's largest underground hospital, proof against bombs, missiles, chemical and biological weapons, so that when Israel's enemies decide to destroy lives, they will continue saving them.

We saw the new Bar-Ilan Medical Center in Safed, set up to bring the finest possible medical treatment. Who to? Only to Jews? No. To Muslims, to Christians, to Druze villages throughout the Galil, because to be a Jew in Israel means you care for every life; every life is sacred. (Applause.)

We saw the Laniado Hospital in the Netanya, a place I always visit because it moves me almost beyond words. Many of you know the Laniado Hospital was built by the Klausenburger Rebbe, a survivor of Auschwitz who during the Holocaust lost his wife and all 11 children. And there in the camps of death made an oath that if he should ever survive he would dedicate the rest of his life to saving life.

That is what I see in Israel. Every time I visit Israel I find among Israelis, secular or religious, an absolute unswerving dedication to Moshe Rabbenu's great command Uvacharta Bachayim, "Choose life." Israel is the sustained defiance of hatred and power in the name of life because we are the people who sanctify life. (Applause.)

Friends, in the last decade the equation has changed. Today the struggle against Israel is no longer just against Israel. Today what is at stake in Israel's survival is the future of freedom itself. Because make no mistake, this will be the defining battle of the 21st century which will prevail: the will to power with its violence, terror, missiles, and bombs; or the will to life with its hospitals, schools, freedoms, and rights. Believe you me, I have the privilege of knowing.

See, Christians, Hindus, Sheiks, moderate Muslims, and I tell you from my experience Israel is a source of inspiration not just to us but to them as well, because it tells every single person on the face of the earth that you don't have—a nation doesn't have to be large to be great. A nation doesn't have to be rich in natural resources to prosper.

Israel has been surrounded by enemies and yet it has shown that even so you can still be a democracy, still have a free press, still have an independent judiciary. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a Palestinian can stand up on national television and criticize the government and the next day still be a free human being. (Applause.)

Israel is an inspiration to the world. And since we spend a certain amount of our time traveling around the world, we see this only too richly. I still have—because once upon a time Hong Kong had a little bit to do the—with the British Empire. We lost Hong Kong. We lost the Empire Visca Maton [ph]. I'm not so pleased about you lot either; 1776, don't think we've forgotten. But still. (Laughter.)

And so it was one of my visits to Hong Kong after the handover, I went to see Mr. Tung Chee Hwa, the Beijing appointment as head of Hong Kong. And I tell you this man, this Chinese appointment, was a lover of Jews and Judaism and Israel. He said to me, you know, your people and my people are very old people. You've been around 6,000 years; we've been around 5,000 years. Tell me, I always wanted to know, what did you do for the first thousand years before you had Kosher Chinese takeaways? (Laughter.)

I said, Mr. Tung, you want to know what we did for the first thousand years? We complained about the food. (Laughter.) And Mr. Tung said to me, I want to go and visit Israel because I see that as the model of development for here. And he did go two or three months later and came back absolutely inspired. And I went straight to the Israeli ambassador in London and said, look how the world has changed. There was a time when Israel dreamed about being the Hong Kong of the Middle East; today Hong Kong dreams, halevai, we should be the Israel of the Far East. (Applause.)

Friends, we have people who do strange things in Britain. Three years ago, I don't know if you read this in the papers, the British atheists paid a fortune for London buses to carry a logo saying "probably—" puh-puh-puh "-- there is no god." Did you read about this? Actually all the London buses, "There's probably no god."

So I wrote about this. You know, that's a very interesting word, "probably." After all, how probable is it that the universe should exist? How probable is it that life should exist? How probable is it that out of all the 3 million life forms on the—on the planet Earth, only one, us, is capable of asking the question "why"? Nothing interesting is remotely probable.

And then I said, think about the Jewish people. How probably is it that one man, Abraham, who commanded no empire, ordered no army, performed no miracle, delivered no prophecy, should today without doubt be the most influential man who ever lived, who's claimed as the spiritual ancestor by 2.4 billion Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, and most of you in the room today? (Laughter.)

How probable is it that this tiny people, the Jewish people, numbering less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the population of the world, should have outlived—as you just heard—the world's greatest empires—the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans—every empire that ever stood up to destroy us, they are being consigned to history and still we stand and sing "Am Yisrael Chai"?

How likely is it—(applause)—that after 2,000 years of exile our people should have come back to our land and there in—having stood eyeball to eyeball in Auschwitz a mere three years earlier, eyeball to eyeball with the Angel of Death, in 1948 said, despite the worst crime of man against man, lo amut kiechyeh—I will not die but I will live? Israel is the greatest collective affirmation of life in the whole of Jewish history. (Applause.)

Friends, Judaism is the defeat of probability by the power of possibility. And nowhere will you see the power of possibility more than in the state of Israel today. Israel has taken a barren land and made it bloom again. Israel has taken an ancient language, the language of the Bible, and make it speak again. Israel has taken the West's oldest faith and made it young again. Israel has taken a shattered nation and make it live again.

Friends, let us not rest until Israel's light shines throughout the world, the world's great symbol of life and hope. Amen. (Applause.)

Shaping Tomorrow Together: Saving Soldiers and Civilians

Loving Israel the AIPAC way

I am an unabashed Israel junkie.  There is nothing that goes on there that I'm not interested in.  I make it my business to keep current on Israel's politics, music, sports... You name it, I'm interested in it.

To some extent, my interest in things Israel serves a professional purpose.  The more I know, the better equipped I am to share my perspective with the members of my synagogue who look to me for guidance.  But essentially, my interest is intensely personal.  As a Zionist, Israel's situation at any given moment- particularly in troubled times like these- is my concern.  It's not so much that I want to know what's going on there; I need to know.  Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, it is, in a very real sense, my other home, and could have been my other life.

But of course, there is a dimension to caring about Israel that is far more significant than my personal concern, or any one person's interest.  This higher dimension is the cause of political advocacy for Israel's existence and security in the halls of the United States government- Israel's only true and sure ally.  And when you're talking about political advocacy for Israel here in America, you're talking about AIPAC- the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

I returned just a day or two ago from AIPAC's annual Policy Conference in Washington, DC.  Thirteen thousand pro-Israel activists from around the United States were in attendance.  Thirteen thousand!  As President of the Rabbinical Assembly, I am particularly proud that 160 of my colleagues in the Conservative rabbinate were there. But of far greater importance is the fact that, at one point or another, so were the overwhelming majority of United States senators and congresspersons, and the Vice-President of the United States, not to mention the Prime Minister of Israel (by satellite), and other government ministers and officials.  Virtually the entire government of the United States came to touch base with the pro-Israel community.  At last year’s conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu reminded all those in attendance that, during the darkest days of the Shoah, those who were trying desperately to alert the American government to the evolving genocide “couldn’t even get a lunch.”  And now, the whole government came to AIPAC.  How amazing is that!

Once upon a time in America, and in Europe as well, championing Israel's cause was a kinder and simpler challenge.  The underdog status of the tiny nation surrounded by enemies was clear for all to see, and supporting it required no mental or geopolitical gymnastics.

But the Six Day War of 1967 transformed Israel's status from underdog to military powerhouse, and, of course, changed the map of the Middle East by making Israel an “occupying power.”  And the 1973 Yom Kippur War saw the Arab world begin to use oil as an instrument of policy leverage and blackmail, forever altering the lens through which Europe and the United States would construct their foreign policies.  The price and ready availability of oil, so crucial to all Western economies, has been a weapon of the Arab world ever since.

It's been almost forty years since the Yom Kippur war, and advocating Israel's cause has only become more difficult with the passage of time.  The unrelenting assault on her legitimacy by the Palestinians and their sympathizers has taken a terrible toll on Israel’s standing, not just among the nations of the world, but also among Jews whose relationship to Israel is peripheral at best.  A staggeringly large number of American Jews have never been to Israel, and are largely ignorant of its realities beyond what they read in their local newspapers.  If all you know about Israel is what you read in the New York Times, you basically know nothing.  And worst of all is that these people don’t even realize what a distorted picture they are getting.  The alienation of so many American Jews is real, and terribly troubling.

At the most obvious level, the work of AIPAC is about educating America’s political leaders to the reality of Israel.  It is about helping them see and appreciate the vibrancy of Israel’s democracy, and the extent to which Israel’s interests in that critical region of the world are consonant with America’s.  AIPAC does not ask America’s leaders for favors for Israel.  It encourages them, rather, to see and understand that by supporting Israel, they are strengthening America.  In that sense, the work that AIPAC does is without peer.  The legislative branch of America’s government is solidly behind Israel, on a bi-partisan level.  Being at that Policy Conference and hearing the roll call of Senate and House members who were in attendance was stunning.  Israel has major problems in public relations, as we all know.  But it does not have problems in the United States Congress.  To that, one can only say, kudos to AIPAC for the incredibly successful work that it does.

But I would also suggest an ancillary benefit of AIPAC’s advocacy, one that might not be visible to the casual observer, or the naked eye.  As advocating for Israel has become increasingly isolating and more difficult, with the negative voices all around often shrill and terribly hostile, AIPAC is the place– the home base– where you don’t have to apologize for loving Israel despite its faults.  Whether you’re a college student dealing with BDS pressures on campus, being made to feel like there’s something wrong with you for supporting Israel, or having to deal with Jewish friends whose posture towards Israel is ambivalent at best or negative at worst, AIPAC is where you can turn to– always– to be reminded that you’re not alone, nor is there anything necessarily wrong with your thinking.  It is the place where Israel activists of all ages share their passion and love for Israel, and their belief in her present and future.  And they act on that belief…

Thank you, AIPAC, for the shot in the arm, and for reminding me yet again of the importance of Israel advocacy work.  And thank you, also, for appreciating how important rabbis are in mobilizing the pro-Israel community.  We notice, and we are grateful!    

The rise of Orthodox Jews at AIPAC is an indicator of the community’s growing political involvement and influence

At the sprawling AIPAC Village, a subterranean expo spanning three city blocks beneath the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, attendees are assaulted with options. They can take a virtual tour of Israel, hobnob with congressional leaders, or watch live presentations on Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. But they can eat only one kind of food: glatt kosher. That’s because all the fare at the entire Policy Conference—from smoothies to shwarma—is under strict rabbinic supervision.

It’s one of several indicators of the rise of Orthodox Jews within AIPAC’s ranks and the lengths to which the organization has gone to make them feel at home. “It’s amazing,” said Rabbi Josh Pruzansky, New Jersey director of political affairs for the Orthodox Union. “You come to the AIPAC conference and you see thousands of Orthodox Jews as part of what is ostensibly a secular Jewish organization.”
“The official buzz is Iron Dome, but the unofficial buzz might be velvet dome,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a longtime Chabad emissary in Washington, D.C. (who famously kashered the White House kitchen), referring to the velvet skullcaps worn by the numerous Chabad attendees. “You used to see maybe a couple dozen yarmulkes at the AIPAC conference. Now there are many hundreds.”
“AIPAC has been cognizant of the growing interest of many in the Orthodox community to become more politically involved in a more obvious way,” said Shemtov, “and rather than making Orthodox Jews feel accommodated, they make them feel welcome, which is something other [Jewish] organizations have not yet invested in.” (AIPAC’s competitor, J Street, failed to provide kosher options at its national conference in 2011.)
This year, for the first time, in addition to events for Conservative and Reform rabbis, the conference had several sessions for Orthodox ones, including a Monday panel discussion with California Rep. Ed Royce and New York Rep. Eliot Engel, and a Sunday address from British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
Sacks himself was impressed by the Orthodox turnout. “I think the Modern Orthodox community is solidly supportive of Israel,” he told me, “and I think increasing numbers of Orthodox Jews at AIPAC actually reflects their increasing prominence in all aspects of the American Jewish community.”
Rabbi Judah Isaacs, director of community engagement at the Orthodox Union, concurred. “It’s like the Federation movement. The GA used to be on Shabbat with microphones and everything else, and now it’s been transformed,” he said, dubbing AIPAC “a natural partner” for many in the Modern Orthodox community. “When you talk about people in the seats who are committed to Israel, they’re in Orthodox congregations right now. For AIPAC, it makes sense in the framework of what they’re doing.”
The conference first went full-kosher under Orthodox AIPAC President Howard Friedman, though kosher options predated his tenure. But the recent explosion in Orthodox participation can be attributed in large part to the efforts of one man: Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Steven Weil. Since taking on his role at the OU, Weil has cemented ties between America’s largest Orthodox organization and its largest pro-Israel lobby group.
“Today we have 70 of our shuls who have the OU-AIPAC initiative,” he told me with pride, “which involves serious pro-Israel activism; participating in policy conferences; setting up a PAC—not affiliated with the synagogue because it’s a 501c3, but with members of the synagogue; [and] bringing in their congressional leaders—people in their area who may not have large Jewish constituencies.”
Under Weil’s stewardship, the AIPAC Shabbaton that precedes the conference has grown to over 350 people. This year, it was jam-packed with longtime activists, school groups, and Jewish professionals, all praying out of Artscroll prayerbooks stamped with “Property of the AIPAC Synagogue Initiative” stickers. (And while the AIPAC Synagogue Initiative, founded in 2007, is a well-known part of the lobby’s outreach, now encompassing hundreds of synagogues across the denominations, lesser known is that Weil’s own Beth Jacob Congregation of Beverly Hills served as the model for the entire program.)
Burgeoning Orthodox involvement at AIPAC is not a fluke. It is part of a broader trend of engagement in the political process by the community. From the Republican National Convention to nationwide battles over school choice and tuition support, Orthodox Jews are becoming increasingly prominent. “The Orthodox community has really evolved into a political force around the country,” said the OU’s Pruzansky, who works to harness that power in New Jersey.
“There are Orthodox groups all over the country that are setting up PACS—not as part of the shul, but as individuals—and that are reaching out to congressmen and senators from both parties,” adds Weil. “OU shuls are basically engaging their populations in two types of political activism: on a state house level in terms of tuition affordability, and on a national level in terms of the American-Israel relationship where they’re partnering with AIPAC.”
And the trend of Orthodox political activism shows no sign of abating. When Weil started the AIPAC-OU synagogue partnership, it kicked off with just five participating member synagogues. Three years later, there are 70. “For Orthodox rabbis, it’s becoming that kind of thing—this is the place to be,” said Isaacs.

AIPAC: PM Netanyahu’s Address before AIPAC 2013

Thank you, thank you very much.
Thank you, Rosie. And thank you Howard, Michael, Robert and all the leadership of AIPAC. Thank you for everything you do to strengthen the great alliance between Israel and The United States of America.
Let me say a special hello to my friend, Vice President Biden. He just spoke there. I have to say that I’ve learned over the years so much from Joe. I want to thank him for his steadfast support for Israel over so many decades. I’ve learned what Irish families are about from Joe Biden. I learned about his father. I learned that his background and ours is so similar, deeply grounded in values, and I just heard those values expressed.
I want to also recognize, and I’m sure you’ll all join me in recognizing, Defense Minister Barak, who I’ve sent to represent Israel in the AIPAC conference. Ehud, I want to thank you for the years of service for Israel’s security. Thank you, Ehud.
And I want to recognize Ambassadors Oren and Prossor. Michael and Ron, thank you both for your terrific service you’re doing for Israel every day.
Finally, I want to thank all of you who have come from far and wide to be here today to express your support for Israel.

As you know I was hoping to speak to you in person, but unfortunately, I had to stay in Israel to do something a lot more enjoyable – putting together a coalition government.
What fun!
If I can offer a free piece of advice -- Don’t adopt Israel’s system of government.
You know, every system has its plusses and minuses. But believe me, it’s a lot easier finding common ground between two parties than it is to find common ground among ten parties.
You think you have a difficulty working out your politics, believe me, this is harder.
Despite the difficulties, I intend to form a strong and stable government in the days ahead.
The first thing that my new government will have the privilege of doing is to warmly welcome President Obama to Israel.
I look forward to the President’s visit. It will give me an opportunity, along with the people of Israel, to express our appreciation for what he has done for Israel.
The President and I agreed to focus our discussions on three main issues:
First, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons;
Second, the deteriorating situation in Syria;
And third, the need to find a responsible way to advance the peace with the Palestinians.
Now, on the first point: Iran has made it clear that it will continue to defy the will of the international community. Time after time, the world’s leading powers have tabled diplomatic proposals to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully. But I have to tell you the truth. Diplomacy has not worked.
Iran ignores all these offers. It is running out the clock. It has used negotiations, including the most recent ones, to buy time to press ahead with its nuclear program.
Thus far, the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program either.
The sanctions have hit the Iranian economy hard. That is true. But Iran's leaders just grit their teeth and move forward.
Iran enriches more and more uranium; It installs faster and faster centrifuges; It’s still not crossed the red line I drew at the United Nations last September. But Iran is getting closer to that line, and it’s putting itself in a position to cross that line very quickly once it decides to do so.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
To prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, we cannot allow Iran to cross that red line. We have to stop its nuclear enrichment program before it’s too late. And I have to tell you, and with the clarity of my brain: words alone will not stop Iran; Sanctions alone will not stop Iran.
Sanctions must be coupled with a clear and credible military threat if diplomacy and sanctions fail.
I deeply appreciate something that President Obama has said repeatedly. You've just heard Vice President Biden say it again: Israel must always be able to defend itself by itself against any threat to its existence.
The Jewish people know the cost of being defenseless against those who would exterminate us. We will never let that happen again.
Joe Biden described his meeting with Golda Meir.
She said to him: our secret weapon is we have no other place to go.
Well, we have our place under the sun.
And ladies and gentlemen, we shall defend it.
The rebirth of Israel is one of the greatest events in history. I think Churchill said it transcends generations, it transcends centuries. He said it is significant in the perspective of thousands of years. We never lose sight of that perspective. We shall always defend the one and only Jewish state.
The second issue I intend to discuss with President Obama is the situation in Syria.
 Over the last two years, over 70,000 Syrians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have been wounded and maimed. Millions have been forced to flee their homes.
Besides this humanitarian crisis of great tragedy, Syria could soon become a strategic crisis. One of monumental proportions.
Syria is a very poor country, but it has chemical weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, and many other of the world’s most deadly and sophisticated arms.
As the Syrian regime collapses, the danger of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups is very real. Terror groups such as Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are trying to seize these weapons as we speak. They are like hyenas feeding off a carcass -- and the carcass is not even dead yet.
These terror groups are committed to Israel’s destruction.
They have repeatedly attacked the United States.
They are global terrorist organizations that can perpetrate terror attacks anywhere in the world. We’ve just seen that, in Cyprus, in Bulgaria, everywhere.
This is why we have a common interest in preventing them from obtaining these deadly weapons.
I know that here too President Obama fully appreciates Israel’s need to defend itself.
And I look forward to discussing with him ways to address this challenge to our common security.
The third issue I intend to discuss with President Obama is our common quest for peace.
Israel seeks a peace with our Palestinian neighbors – a peace that will end our conflict once and for all. That peace must be grounded in reality; and it must be grounded in security.
Israel withdrew from Lebanon; We withdrew from Gaza; We gave up territory.
We got terror. We cannot allow that to happen a third time.
Israel is prepared for a meaningful compromise. But as Israel’s Prime Minister, I will never compromise on our security.
We must work together to find a realistic path forward – And I think that path has to be a measured step-by-step process in which we work to advance to a verifiable, durable and defensible peace.
It has to be defensible, because in the Middle East, especially in this Middle East, a peace you cannot defend will not hold for five minutes. It has to be verifiable, because as we move from one step to another, we have to make sure that we can not only defend ourselves but also that our neighbors are actually telling their people, educating their children to live in peace.
This is something we desperately want. We yearn for peace, we pray for peace, and with President Obama, we shall work for peace.
I look forward to discussing with President Obama when he comes here later this month all these issues
But in addition, I'll have a chance to show President Obama a different side of Israel, Israel that has become a technological marvel. It’s teeming with innovation. Israel, that each day pushes the boundaries of medicine and science to the ends of human imagination. Israel that has one of the world’s most vibrant cultures and one of the world’s most dynamic peoples.
Israel, the modern Jewish state living in the ancient Jewish homeland -- an oasis of liberty and progress in the heart of the Middle East where these ideas have yet to take root.
That is the Israel that all of you know.
That is the Israel that all of you love.
That is the Israel that so many Americans love.
And that is the Israel that will never stop standing shoulder to shoulder with the country that has been the greatest force for good that the world has ever known – the United States of America.
God bless America,
God bless Israel,
And God bless the American-Israeli alliance.
God bless you all. Thank you.