Education Minister Gideon Saar, a member of the political security cabinet, was the main speaker Sunday evening at BICOM, the pro-Israel lobby in London.
Minister Saar, addressing the current debate over negotiations with Hamas-Fatah, said that the Palestinian Authority "has been preventing negotiations with Israel for two years by demanding pre-conditions for negotiations." He added that “the alliance that Fatah and Hamas have formed recently demonstrates that the face of the Palestinians is not toward peace with Israel."
Minister Saar added that “the international community, of which Great Britain is an important member, must block the Palestinian attempt to turn the conflict into one state for two peoples through unilateral measures, whose purpose is solely the deligitimization of Israel.”
“These measures,” he said, “will not engender peace.”
Minister Saar reminded the audience that Israel "is the only democracy in the Middle East and it maintained democratic rule and freedom also in difficult days of terrorism and war... We are proud that the Arab citizens of Israel, like all Israeli citizens, enjoy full civilian liberties in Israel. These freedoms are denied to their brothers in every Arab country. The freedoms for which they are struggling and being killed today in the streets of Damascus and Tripoli, are the fabric of Israeli democracy for all citizens."
In conclusion, Minister Saar said that Israel is a success story and success causes jealousy: “There is no doubt but that some of the hostility against Israel in the region stems from jealousy and the lack of tolerance for difference. This is the case with Jew hatred for centuries which is fed by jealousy for our successes and ethnic intolerance".
"The events today prove that Israel today is surrounded by enemies who simply don’t accept our existence,” said Minister Saar, alluding to the Naqba Day protests and incidents.
(Translated by Sartaba Publications, Translations from the Hebrew, Editor: Yonatan Silverman, sartaba@013net.net)