Freshman MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) apologized:
"I come to apologize to you all, in the name of the Likud! Yossi Sarid once had to leave Labor because he supported a Palestinian state, and now the Likud itself that is supporting such a state! I came to apologize for the Likud having abandoned the field of public relations on behalf of our right to this land, and left the job to you alone, the residents of Yesha. …
"Today of all days, the day before the holiday of receiving the Torah, Sharon - builder of the Land of Israel - heard Pres. Bush say that the Holy Land must be divided. I would like to remind the government of Israel, and Pres. Bush, who believes in the Creator, that as Ben-Gurion said, our mandate to the Land is from the Bible! The entire land is the inheritance of all the Jewish people throughout the generations, and one generation has no right to give up parts of it. …
"What is the purpose of traveling the same Oslo path that we just finished so tragically? Is terrorism over? Have they given up their incitement or their demand for the 'right of return'? Just two weeks ago a poll showed that 70% of the Palestinians support suicide attacks against Israelis within pre-1967 Israel - with them we can make peace?! …
"This is not a struggle just for Yesha, because if a Palestinian state is established, Heaven forbid, it will endanger Tel Aviv and Petach Tikva and the rest of Israel.
"As someone who served as an aide to Ariel Sharon, I learned from him how to deal with a Prime Minister who is given to pressure from the Americans - and that is to 'shackle' him [apply counter-pressure] - and that's what I intend to do. We must all work together for this cause. And from here I say to you what Ariel Sharon said to you only a few years ago: Go out and capture the hilltops! This is not occupation - it's Zionism! And with G-d's help, we will win."
Other speakers included Amit Barak, representative of a secular-nationalist group of youth from around the country. Also addressing the rally were former MK Chanan Porat; MKs Ayoub Kara, Yuli Edelstein and Yechiel Chazan of the Likud; Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism); Gila Finkelstein and Nissan Slomiansky of the National Religious Party; Nissim Ze'ev (Shas); and Yesha Council head Bentzy Lieberman.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) reminded the audience that Ariel Sharon was the last Jewish civilian to ascend to the Temple Mount, "and since then it has been closed only to Jews. Mr. Prime Minister, open the Temple Mount!"
A recorded message was heard from leading U.S. Christian supporter of Israel Gary Bauer, who said that Israel is facing an
"incredible evil, where a Palestinian mother can jump for joy when she hears that her son has blown himself up… Your enemy doesn't want just the West Bank. What's at stake here is the very right of Israel to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people to raise their children in peace and justice. The occupied territory that the Palestinian Authority refers to is all of Israel - not just the West Bank. You must stand against this, and you friends here in America will stand with you…"
A youth from Beit El threw a facsimile of the Road Map plan into a makeshift "garbage bin of history," together with "all the other agreements that did not succeed: Oslo, Cairo, Wye, Hevron, Camp David, etc. No Israel leader can succeed in giving away parts of Eretz Yisrael!"
"I come to apologize to you all, in the name of the Likud! Yossi Sarid once had to leave Labor because he supported a Palestinian state, and now the Likud itself that is supporting such a state! I came to apologize for the Likud having abandoned the field of public relations on behalf of our right to this land, and left the job to you alone, the residents of Yesha. …
"Today of all days, the day before the holiday of receiving the Torah, Sharon - builder of the Land of Israel - heard Pres. Bush say that the Holy Land must be divided. I would like to remind the government of Israel, and Pres. Bush, who believes in the Creator, that as Ben-Gurion said, our mandate to the Land is from the Bible! The entire land is the inheritance of all the Jewish people throughout the generations, and one generation has no right to give up parts of it. …
"What is the purpose of traveling the same Oslo path that we just finished so tragically? Is terrorism over? Have they given up their incitement or their demand for the 'right of return'? Just two weeks ago a poll showed that 70% of the Palestinians support suicide attacks against Israelis within pre-1967 Israel - with them we can make peace?! …
"This is not a struggle just for Yesha, because if a Palestinian state is established, Heaven forbid, it will endanger Tel Aviv and Petach Tikva and the rest of Israel.
"As someone who served as an aide to Ariel Sharon, I learned from him how to deal with a Prime Minister who is given to pressure from the Americans - and that is to 'shackle' him [apply counter-pressure] - and that's what I intend to do. We must all work together for this cause. And from here I say to you what Ariel Sharon said to you only a few years ago: Go out and capture the hilltops! This is not occupation - it's Zionism! And with G-d's help, we will win."
Other speakers included Amit Barak, representative of a secular-nationalist group of youth from around the country. Also addressing the rally were former MK Chanan Porat; MKs Ayoub Kara, Yuli Edelstein and Yechiel Chazan of the Likud; Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism); Gila Finkelstein and Nissan Slomiansky of the National Religious Party; Nissim Ze'ev (Shas); and Yesha Council head Bentzy Lieberman.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) reminded the audience that Ariel Sharon was the last Jewish civilian to ascend to the Temple Mount, "and since then it has been closed only to Jews. Mr. Prime Minister, open the Temple Mount!"
A recorded message was heard from leading U.S. Christian supporter of Israel Gary Bauer, who said that Israel is facing an
"incredible evil, where a Palestinian mother can jump for joy when she hears that her son has blown himself up… Your enemy doesn't want just the West Bank. What's at stake here is the very right of Israel to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people to raise their children in peace and justice. The occupied territory that the Palestinian Authority refers to is all of Israel - not just the West Bank. You must stand against this, and you friends here in America will stand with you…"
A youth from Beit El threw a facsimile of the Road Map plan into a makeshift "garbage bin of history," together with "all the other agreements that did not succeed: Oslo, Cairo, Wye, Hevron, Camp David, etc. No Israel leader can succeed in giving away parts of Eretz Yisrael!"