Kadima chairwoman Knesset Member Tzipi Livni stated Monday night, “I believe in the right of the Jewish people to the entire land” of Judea and Samaria but that “pragmatism” dictates Israel’s surrendering the land for a new Palestinian Authority state.
Speaking at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting, the former Foreign Minister stated, "I…come from a family of Etzel [Jewish underground] fighters whose symbol was a map of the land of Israel on both sides of the Jordan River. I was taught that the Jewish people have a historic, national, religious and legal right to all the land.”
She affirmed, "To this day, I believe in the right of the Jewish people to the entire land. I feel a deep, undying connection to the ancient land of Israel - Judea and Samaria - to places I was taken to as a girl after the Six Day War when we thought Jews and Arabs could live together in harmony between the River Jordan and the sea. I share and respect this sense of justice in our claim to the land. But my objective is different.”
I feel a deep, undying connection to the ancient land of Israel - Judea and Samaria.
Livni, who campaigned in the recent election campaign for the “two-state solution,” explained that despite her fervent belief in the rights of Jews, "We need the Arab and Muslim world to begin the process that I call ‘normalization in stages’ with Israel. We need them to prove to a justly skeptical Israeli public, that peace will offer Israel strategic benefits across the Middle East and allow Israel to take its rightful place as an integral part of the region.”
Livni rejected several “pragmatic” Arab countries that demand a PA state before they join the war against terrorism. She also rebuffed the claim of “some in Israel for whom the existence of the threat is an excuse to avoid taking the difficult steps needed to advance co-existence.”
The Kadima leader, who was considered a strong nationalist before she supported former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “Disengagement” plan that resulted in the expulsion of thousands of Jews in Gaza and northern Samaria, told AIPAC that the struggle over Judea and Samaria “is not just a matter or real estate.”
MK Livni asserted, “The roots of this conflict began in the refusal to recognize the rights of the Jewish people in their homeland, side by side with our Palestinian and Arab neighbors.” In her speech, she made no reference to recent statements by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that he sees no need to recognize Israel as a Jewish State.
Israel United against Nuclear Iran
Although she pointed out her differences with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the road toward establishing a new PA state, MK Livni said all of Israel is united against a nuclear Iran.
“On the issue of Iran - there is no opposition party in Israel," she stated. "Unfortunately, even today, Israel must fight for its existence. Still today, we face those that spread a culture of hate; that seek to destroy and not to build. We face those that dare deny the Holocaust and that publicly call - and plan - for Israel's destruction.
"We know too that Iran's ideology is not driven by any concern for the Palestinian cause. It is not a response to any Israeli policy. Iran is driven, first and foremost, by an extreme religious vision that denies the rights of others; rejects Israel's very right to exist and seeks to destabilize the entire Middle East.”