Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that there are those that are keen on attaining temporary peace at the price of making pacifying agreements with aggressive tyrannical regimes, first and foremost, with the dangerous totalitarian regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During remarks at a special Knesset session in honor of visiting Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, the Israeli leader underscored the danger of refusing to internalize the lessons of history that allowed dangerous regimes to realize their evil plans in the midst of a passive and compromising international community.
“There are those that seek to attain quiet, temporary quiet, if at all, at the cost of reconciliation with tyrant regimes, first of all with the totalitarian regime in Iran. They may not have internalized the lessons of history, but we have. We internalized them very well. That is why I vehemently rejected the nuclear deal that was signed with Iran, an agreement that paved its way to a nuclear arsenal and gave it a large amount of money to sponsor its aggression in the region. We didn’t receive quiet, we received a radical Shi’ite empire that is expanding and already touches our borders. I opposed the agreement, even when it meant facing the entire world. I insisted on re-imposing the sanctions on Iran and to my delight President Donald Trump accepted the brave decision to renew them,” the Prime Minister said. The Israeli leader further stressed Jerusalem’s resolve to stand firm in the face of radical Islam, which he emphasized “is not only a regional struggle.” That said, while Netanyahu declared Israel as a frontier post of the free world in the campaign against radical Islam that threatens global enlightenment and freedom; there remain countries that hypocritically criticize the Jewish state’s self-defense efforts against mutual enemies. According to him, “We are standing today, with full strength, in the face of threats from radical Islam. This is not only a local struggle of us and of our neighbors. Israel is a frontier post of the free world in the battle to preserve enlightenment and freedom to the entire world. To my regret there are those who automatically criticize Israel that seeks to defend itself against our mutual enemies. What hypocrisy, unlike any other. Radical Islam is destroying countries, slaughters thousands and causes thousands of refugees to flee the Middle East and instead of condemning those blood thirsty radicals, the UN Human Rights Council choses over and over again to condemn Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.” With regard to international demands to advance a two-state solution that will force Israel to relinquish Judea and Samaria, the two largest territories within the West Bank that also includes the Jordan valley. In Netanyahu’s words, “The attempt to deny us of the defensive wall of Judea and Samaria, which are the heart of our [the Jewish] historic homeland, will render our country unprotectible and will allow the radical Islamic powers to threat the entire Middle East.” In his speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also referred to the growing rapprochement with the Arab world, amid calls by the Islamist Hamas organization on the Arab and Islamic worlds to halt the phenomenon, which they referred to as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian people.”Netanyahu declared that the days in which the Palestinians actively sought to hold Israel’s relations with the Arab world hostage have come to an end, as Jerusalem’s rapprochement with those countries has become inevitable, ”Throughout the years, a consensus has been reached according to which only peace with the Palestinians would allow the strengthening of relations between Israel and the Arab world. The reality proves however, that precisely our cooperation with the leading nations in the Arab and Muslim world could at this time advance our relations with our neighbors. Peace with the Palestinians is a worthy target on its own merit, and there is no doubt that its advancement would assist in the improvement of our relations with the Arab countries. But, this [peace with the Palestinians] is not a guarantee nor a necessity to the continuation of such relations [with the Arab world].”/ “Throughout decades we have not conditioned the development of the state [of Israel] in peace with the Arab world. And today we will not condition the progression of our relations with the Arab world in peace with the Palestinians. We will seek peaceful relations with all, and advance with those of our neighbors [states] in the region that want peace. And let me tell you Mr. President [Milos Zeman], many of them [Arab states] want [peace].”
Earlier in the day, the Czech President visited his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin at his residence in Jerusalem, during which he underscored that while for decades the international community discussed the inception of two independent states as the only solution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Prague could not share this position, as he does not see an “independent state in the Gaza Strip,” as he views the Islamic Hamas that controls that territory as a terrorist organization. According to the Czech President, “For many, many decades there is a discussion about two independent states but frankly I do not see independent states in Gaza Strip because I understand Hamas is a terroristic organization and not as a state.” Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, who warmly welcomed the staunch support for the state Israel from his Czech counterpart, thanked President Zeman for his decision to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem – during his visit to Israel – which will serve as a first step in the direction of relocating Prague’s embassy in the country to Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Israel. The Israeli President was quoted saying that “In the current situation our friendship is more important than ever. We welcome your support for the eventual move of the embassy of the Czech Republic to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city of peace.”