President Moshe Katzav, speaking at a ceremony commemorating Israel’s war dead and victims of Arab terror, asked how Israel cannot hold the entire Islamic world accountable when its religious leaders fail to condemn terror against Jews.
Katzav said, “Can we possibly say that this is not the way of Islam, when the Imams are silent in the face of terror?”
In the past year, noted the president, Israel took great strides for the sake of peace, but all its efforts only intensified the terrorists’ desire to fight against the Jewish State. Katzav was referring to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria last August, a pullback which destroyed 25 Israeli communities and uprooted nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes.
Katzav drew a parallel between Arab terror against Israel and Islamic terror throughout the world, and added that the supporters of terror only “strengthened Israel and the justice of its cause.”
“The people of Israel shall stand firm, with the help of G-d, and they [the terrorists] will not break them,” he said, turning to the families who lost loved ones, gathered for the yearly ceremony on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. “We unite with the victims’ memories today, and we feel the pain deeply,” added Katzav.
Katzav’s speech was followed by Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said that Israel would strike at terrorists who shed Israeli blood, while knowing how to distinguish between murderers and civilians.
Katzav said, “Can we possibly say that this is not the way of Islam, when the Imams are silent in the face of terror?”
In the past year, noted the president, Israel took great strides for the sake of peace, but all its efforts only intensified the terrorists’ desire to fight against the Jewish State. Katzav was referring to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria last August, a pullback which destroyed 25 Israeli communities and uprooted nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes.
Katzav drew a parallel between Arab terror against Israel and Islamic terror throughout the world, and added that the supporters of terror only “strengthened Israel and the justice of its cause.”
“The people of Israel shall stand firm, with the help of G-d, and they [the terrorists] will not break them,” he said, turning to the families who lost loved ones, gathered for the yearly ceremony on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. “We unite with the victims’ memories today, and we feel the pain deeply,” added Katzav.
Katzav’s speech was followed by Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said that Israel would strike at terrorists who shed Israeli blood, while knowing how to distinguish between murderers and civilians.