“It annoys me when they speak about the ‘legitimacy’ of the State of Israel,” Sharansky said. “We are the only state which has to prove, time and again, that we have a right to exist.”
Sharansky emphasized that the Jewish people don’t owe anybody for the existence of their state. “We have to remember that the 29th of November is not a day on which the world did us a favor. It’s a day on which the world simply could no longer oppose the energy of the pioneers who decided they were going to establish a state - and did so.”
He said that the key to standing strong in the face of international pressure against the State of Israel’s continued existence lies in Jewish unity.
“When our nation is united around the idea of ‘enough - we deserve a state too, we want to return home,’ then today, as well, if we have the energy of pioneers, and if we are united, then we don’t have to be afraid of the world’s warnings.”