PM Netanyahu and British PM May at Balfour Declaration Centenary Event

pray silence for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to resume Lord Rothschild Prime Minister Netanyahu Chief Rabbi distinguished guests Lords ladies and gentlemen I am so pleased to be here with you tonight and to be with you Lord Balfour on this special evening as we mark the centenary of the letter written by your great uncle which I believe to be one of the most significant letters in history a letter which gave birth to a most extraordinary country and a letter which finally opened the door to helping make a Jewish homeland a reality it was a letter that is all the more remarkable when you consider its length its context and its sensitivity first it was exceptionally concise whereas Lord Rothschild has said just 67 words in my experience such brevity is not typically a feature of letters from the Foreign Office permanent secretary and foreign secretary was that a nod of acknowledgement in in there but second we should consider the context in which this letter was written it has cast our minds back to the time of 1917 in an era of competing imperial powers and with Britain still embroiled in the midst of the First World War the idea of establishing a homeland for the Jewish people would have seemed a distant dream for many and been fiercely opposed by others yet it was at this very moment that Lord Balfour had the vision and the leadership to make this profound statement about restoring a persecuted people to a safe and secure homeland and third this was a letter that remains very sensitive for many people today but it was not ignorant of those sensitivities indeed Balfour wrote explicitly that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country so when some people suggest we should apologize for this letter I say absolutely not we are proud of our pioneering role in the creation of the State of Israel we are proud to stand here today together with Prime Minister Netanyahu and declare our support for Israel and we and we are proud of the relationship we have built with Israel and as we mark 100 years since baltha we look forward to taking that relationship even further as Prime Minister Netanyahu and I discussed in Downing Street earlier today we want to deepen our links in areas where Israel is leading the world in areas like agriculture health science technology and innovation Israel is the true startup nation and we are proud to be your partner we also remain absolutely committed to Israel's security for it is only when you witness Israel's vulnerability that you truly understand the constant danger Israelis face as I saw in my visit in 2014 when the bodies of the murdered teenagers naftaly frenkel Gilad cher and Eyal Li frac were discovered so I am clear that we will always support Israel's right to defend itself and in a world where Britain and Israel increasingly face the same shared challenges and threats I am just as clear that our security services will continue to deepen their already excellent cooperation to keep all our people safe so I believe we should gather here tonight with a great deal of pride in all that we have achieved and all that Israel stands for as a symbol of openness as a thriving democracy and a beacon to the world in upholding the rights of women and members of the LGBT community but marking this centenary is not just about what has been achieved we must recognize how difficult at times this journey has been from the Jews forced out of their homes in Arab countries in 1948 to the suffering of Palestinians affected and dislodged by Israel's birth both completely contrary to the intention of Balfour to safeguard all of these communities and we must I believe seize this opportunity to renew our resolve on what is still to be achieved for sadly Beaufort remains unfinished business as his fundamental vision of peaceful coexistence has not yet been fulfilled and I believe it demands of us today a renewed resolve to support a lasting peace that is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians and in the interests of us all so I'm delighted to see US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross here with us this evening and Wilbur you can be assured of the full hearted support of the United Kingdom for the efforts that the Trump administration is making to bring the parties together to reach that peace deal a peace deal that must be based on a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state and let us be honest with each other there will need to be compromises from each side if we are to have a realistic chance of achieving this goal including an end to the building of new settlements and an end to Palestinian incitement to but as we work together towards Balthus vision of a peaceful coexistence we must be equally clear that there can never be any excuses for boycotts divestment or sanctions they are unacceptable and this government will have no truck with those who subscribe to them neither neither can there be any ever be any excuse for anti-semitism in any form just as there is just as there is no excuse for hatred against Muslims Christians or anyone based on the peaceful religions they choose to follow the place of their birth or the color of their skin and yes this means recognizing that there is today a new and pernicious form of anti-semitism which uses criticism of the actions of the Israeli government as despicable justification for questioning the very right of Israel to exist this is abhorrent and we will not stand for it and that is why the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of an international effort to create a new definition of anti-semitism which explicitly calls out this inexcusable attempt to justify hatred so let me be clear criticising the actions of Israel is never and can never be an excuse for questioning Israel's right to exist any more than criticizing the actions of Britain could be an excuse for questioning our right to exist and criticizing the government of Israel is never and can never be an excuse for hatred against the Jewish people any more than criticizing the British government would be an excuse for hatred against the British people put simply there can be no excuses for any kind of hatred towards the Jewish people there never have been there never have been and there never will be and let me say this too we will never forget where that hatred and Prejudice can lead that is why it is right that the United Kingdom would have a permanent and fitting national memorial to the Holocaust standing next to Parliament together with a learning center that will teach the lessons of the Holocaust for society today and act as a voice against hatred in the modern world and I'm delighted that just last week the cross-party United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial Foundation announced that sir david adjey ron arad and the landscape architects gustav as Gustafson Porter and Bauman have won the international design competition for the memorial and learning center with their evocative concept design for this new national landmark at the heart of our democracy now in saying all of this I do not underestimate the scale of the challenges we face together the challenge of fighting hatred in all its forms the challenge of bringing people together the challenge of fulfilling balfus vision of peaceful coexistence but neither do i underestimate the scale of the prize that is at stake I saw a glimpse of that prize just last Saturday when I attended a charity concert with the west-eastern divan Orchestra on London's Southbank an orchestra that brings together young Israeli and Palestinian musicians as well as those from several other Arab countries to promote coexistence and intercultural dialogue though performing together raising money for the Jacqueline Duprey tribute fund which helps fund multiple sclerosis research and through their shared love of music they escaped the divides of their history to come together for a United cause in their actions and in many others like it the spirit of baltha lives on so let us tonight be inspired by that spirit let us recognize the contribution of Bo in fulfilling what was once little more than a 2000 year old dream for a persecuted people let us take inspiration from the vision he showed as we work together for that future where Arabs and Jews can live in peaceful coexistence and as we look to that future let us mark with pride what has been achieved with the creation of the State of Israel and in balford own words a national home for the Jewish people [Applause] pray silence for the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu our gracious host Lord Rothschild Lord Balfour it's unbelievable to have these two names associated here my Minister may thank you for that extraordinary speech you you said exactly what Martin Luther King said about anti-semitism masquerading as anti-zionism but you said it's so clearly so powerfully and your denunciation of anti-semitism rings so true thank you thank you on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people foreign secretary Boris Johnson a worthy successor of Lord Balfour as we found today there there are so many friends here from Israel from Britain from the United States ambassadors and ministers former Prime Minister's former Secretary of State friends clergy rabbis and Archbishop's this is a momentous occasion it marks in marks a pivotal event in Jewish history in British history and world history the history of modern Zionism is intertwined with the history of Britain the actions and words of Britain but for me this is a deeply moving personal moment in the beginning of World War one one of the Zionist leaders vladimir zhabotinsky approached the british government and asked to form a jewish fighting force within the british army and after some consideration the british government agreed they gave them the task of being designed mule Corps which operated first in Gallipoli it then became the Jewish brigade which sowed the seeds of the Israeli Defense Forces the commander of that force was Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson a British officer Patterson had never met Jews he was skeptical of what he would get but in Gallipoli and beyond from Gallipoli to the Galilee he was amazed he was amazed by the sacrifice the courage the camaraderie of his soldiers whom he became deeply affectionate for and prized all his life some 20 years later Patterson met my father in the United States during World War two and he joined him in advocating for a Jewish state the partnership and the friendship they Forge was so deep that my parents decided to call their first newborn my older brother Jonathan in honor of John Henry Patterson John for him Nathan for my grandfather John Henry Patterson was the Godfather of my brother who was later to fall in Antibes it and I grew up with a silver cup with a dedication to my godson Jonathan from your Godfather John Henry Patterson think about that the first Jewish fighting force in two thousand years and the commander the British commander is the godfather of one of the future commanders in the Israeli Air Force in the Israeli Defense Force the commander who helped rescue Palestine from 400 years of Turkish oppression was the Godfather of the Israeli commando leader who rescued Jews from terrorists in the heart of Africa Patterson was to die in the United States and two years ago fulfilling his last wish his last will and testament I brought his remains to Israel and buried him just as he requested next to his beloved Jewish fighters in Israel so Britain's Britain is intertwined with the birth of Zionism but for me this connection is deeply deeply personal but that connection has it right here in London in this city in 1930 Herzl our modern Moses the founder of modern Zionism addressed the fourth Zionist Congress that he convened here he said this England free and mighty England whose vision embraces the seven seas will understand us and our aspirations it is here that the Zionist movement I'm sure will soar to further and greater heights Herzl confidence was well-founded at the time British sympathy for Zionism was evident everywhere you could hear it you could read it actually in the novels of Walter Scott and George Eliot you could hear it in the speeches of Lord Ashley and Benjamin Disraeli and as we just heard Lord Shaftesbury in the 1830s you can see it in the expeditions of the Palestine exploration fund which Queen Victoria established to rediscover and map the land of the Bible alongside America it was here in Britain where Christian Zionism preceded modern Jewish Zionism and kindled its fire this is why Herzl in whom that fire burned brightest believed that Britain would be the place where his sacred mission to establish a Jewish state would be propelled forward and just as he predicted seventeen years later on November 2nd 1917 with the help of a genius diplomat Klein Weitzman and his friend Lord Rothschild and others Britain recognized the right of the Jewish people to a national home in our historic homeland and while they were later I'm a diplomat I'm the Foreign Minister Boris I'll be careful and while there were later painful retreats on the path to national rebirth we always remember proud British Zionists like Lord Balfour Lord George and Winston Churchill who entered a Pantheon reserved for the greatest Friends of the Jewish people in our long history and we remember those perhaps lesser known men who played a great role in our national revival and who forged pivotal print friendships with their Jewish counterparts mark Sikes recognized the family marks iced with Aaron Aronson Colonel Richard miner talkin Alan's B's intelligence officer was later falsely accused of being of Jewish descent actually was of Danish origin Colonel Richard minor talkin with the nearly espionage network that Aronson founded that provided invaluable intelligence for the British Army in the Palestine campaign and John Henry Patterson with Joe butinsky so exactly a century later here in London I'm privileged to speak as the Prime Minister of the state that Herzl foresaw and that these men fought to create without decades of emigration and hard work without the courage and sacrifice that was needed to defend our lives and our Liberty the State of Israel would not have coming into being but it was the golfer declaration that galvanized international support for Zionism is never before and paved the path for Zionism Zen tree on the world stage now a once stateless and powerless people is found its rightful place among the nations Prime Minister made the Balfour Declaration put written on the right side of history in marking that declaration today you are keeping Britain on the right side of history on behalf of the government of Israel and the people of Israel I thank you ladies and gentlemen while we mark with pride the Balfour Declaration today Palestinian leaders call it a tragedy but the real tragedy of the Balfour Declaration is that it took three decades to fulfill its promise too late for one-third of the Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust and Israel been established in 1928 or 1938 and not in 1948 millions could have been saved some people mistakenly believed that there is an Israel because of the Holocaust in fact it's only because there was no Israel that the Holocaust could occur because there was no sovereign Jewish power to protect the Jewish people or to provide refuge for the six millions murdered by the Nazis and the other true tragedy of the Balfour Declaration is that the Palestinians rejected it they still do they said so this morning incredibly the Palestinians speak of suing the British government for the Balfour Declaration any lawyers in this room this is a sure win for Britain it's time for the Palestinians to end their quest to eliminate Israel it's time not that they not for them it's time for them not just to accept a Jewish National Home it's time for them to accept finally a Jewish state a nation state for the Jewish people because if they do the conflict will be over in a minute but there is good news alongside Egypt and Jordan with whom we've already made peace others in the Arab world are moving forward they recognize that Israel is not their enemy but their indispensable ally in fighting militant Islam they view Israel as their partner for ensuring a peace and the future and security and prosperity it's time that the Palestinians will embrace this approach - and if they do they will find in Israel and in me an enthusiastic partner for building a peaceful and prosperous future for both our peoples it's within our reach I think it's getting closer now you doubt it you don't really believe what I say but you don't know everything that I know and I'm not going to reveal it down many others around the world already recognized the benefits of peace and security and prosperity by cooperating with Israel that they seek to benefit from our intelligence prowess in fighting terrorism in our innovative technology and building their economies people are always amazed at that but you know you'd think that it would be obvious that if we liberated our economy which we did this is what happens we untethered the genius and enterprise of our people to become a rising power in the world stage three years after Israel's independence winch in Churchill wrote Israel's President Heinz Weitzman one of the architects of the wealth of the Balfour Declaration he said this the wonderful exertions which Israel is making in these times of difficulties are cheering - an old Zionist like myself I'm sure that this old scientist Churchill would have been even prouder today of Israel's incredible successes it's a shining beacon of freedom democracy in progress in a troubled region and we might with this beacon help dispel this sea of troubles Prime Minister may I thank you again for standing for the historical truth and for your unequivocal denunciation of anti-semitism I thank Britain for the 4-sided declaration of Lord Balfour I thank Britain for liberating the Holy Land from 400 years of Ottoman domination and I thank Britain for valiantly standing alone against the Nazi tyranny for all this the Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful thank you [Applause]

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Length: 28min 29sec (1709 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 02 2017