[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 24, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H3348-H3351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




JOINT MEETING TO HEAR AN ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY BINYAMIN NETANYAHU, 
                        PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL

  The Speaker of the House presided.
  The Deputy Sergeant at Arms, Mrs. Kerri Hanley, announced the Vice 
President and Members of the U.S. Senate who entered the Hall of the 
House of Representatives, the Vice President taking the chair at the 
right of the Speaker, and the Members of the Senate the seats reserved 
for them.
  The SPEAKER. The Chair appoints as members of the committee on the 
part of the House to escort His Excellency Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime 
Minister of Israel, into the Chamber:
  The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy);
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling);
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions);
  The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price);
  The gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers);
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter);
  The gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem);
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Scott);
  The gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier);
  The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam);
  The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon);
  The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot);
  The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi);
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer);
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Berman);
  The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin);
  The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey);
  The gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley);
  The gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff);
  The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz);
  The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz); and
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The President of the Senate, at the direction of 
that body, appoints the following Senators as members of the committee 
on the part of the Senate to escort His Excellency Binyamin Netanyahu, 
Prime Minister of Israel, into the House Chamber:
  The Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid);
  The Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin);
  The Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray);
  The Senator from Michigan (Mr. Levin);
  The Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry);
  The Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl);
  The Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman);
  The Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein);
  The Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer);
  The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell);
  The Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kyl);
  The Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso);
  The Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune);
  The Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn);
  The Senator from Indiana (Mr. Lugar); and
  The Senator from Utah (Mr. Hatch).
  The Deputy Sergeant at Arms announced the Acting Dean of the 
Diplomatic Corps, Her Excellency Faida Mitifu, Ambassador of the 
Democratic Republic of Congo.
  The Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps entered the Hall of the House 
of Representatives and took the seat reserved for her.
  The Deputy Sergeant at Arms announced the Cabinet of the President of 
the United States.
  The Members of the Cabinet of the President of the United States 
entered the Hall of the House of Representatives and took the seats 
reserved for them in front of the Speaker's rostrum.
  At 11 o'clock and 19 minutes a.m., the Deputy Sergeant at Arms 
announced His Excellency Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
  The Prime Minister of Israel, escorted by the committee of Senators 
and Representatives, entered the Hall of the House of Representatives 
and stood at the Clerk's desk.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  The SPEAKER. Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and the 
distinct honor of presenting to you His Excellency Binyamin Netanyahu, 
Prime Minister of Israel.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  Prime Minister NETANYAHU. Vice President Biden, Speaker Boehner, 
distinguished Senators, Members of the House, honored guests, I am 
deeply moved by this warm welcome, and I am deeply honored that you've 
given me the opportunity to address Congress a second time.
  Mr. Vice President, do you remember the time that we were the new 
kids in town? And I do see a lot of old friends here, and I see a lot 
of new friends of Israel here as well, Democrats and Republicans alike.

  Israel has no better friend than America, and America has no better 
friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy. We stand 
together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism.
  Congratulations, America. Congratulations, Mr. President. You got bin 
Laden. Good riddance.
  In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability. In 
a region of shifting alliances, Israel is America's unwavering ally. 
Israel has always been pro-American. Israel will always be pro-
American.
  My friends, you don't need to do nation-building in Israel; we're 
already built. You don't need to export democracy to Israel; we've 
already got it. And you don't need to send American troops to Israel; 
we defend ourselves. You've been very generous in giving us tools to do 
the job of defending Israel on our own.
  Thank you all; and thank you, President Obama, for your steadfast 
commitment to Israel's security. I know economic times are tough. I 
deeply appreciate this.
  Some of you have been telling me that your belief has been reaffirmed 
in recent months that support for Israel's security is a wise 
investment in our common future, for an epic battle is now underway in 
the Middle East between tyranny and freedom. A great convulsion is 
shaking the Earth from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar--the 
tremors of shattered states, their toppled governments--and we can all 
see that the ground is still shifting.
  Now, this historic moment holds the promise of a new dawn of freedom 
and opportunity. There are millions of young people out there who are 
determined to change their future. We all look at them. They muster 
courage. They risk their lives. They demand dignity. They desire 
liberty. These extraordinary scenes in Tunis and Cairo evoke those of 
Berlin and Prague in 1989.
  I take it as a badge of honor--and so should you--that in our free 
societies you can have protests. You can't have these protests in the 
farcical parliaments in Tehran or in Tripoli. This

[[Page H3349]]

is real democracy. So, as we share the hopes of these young people 
throughout the Middle East and Iran that they'll be able to do what 
that young woman just did--I think she was young. I couldn't see quite 
that far--we must also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out 
as they were in Tehran in 1979. You remember what happened then. The 
brief democratic spring in Tehran was cut short by a ferocious and 
unforgiving tyranny, and it is this same tyranny that smothered 
Lebanon's democratic Cedar Revolution and inflicted on that long-
suffering country the medieval rule of Hezbollah.
  So, today, the Middle East stands at a fateful crossroads; and like 
all of you, I pray that the peoples of the region choose the path less 
traveled--the path of liberty. No one knows what this path consists of 
better than you--nobody. This path of liberty is not paved by elections 
alone. It is paved when governments permit protests in town squares, 
when limits are placed on the powers of rulers, when judges are 
beholden to laws and not men, and when human rights can not be crushed 
by tribal loyalties or mob rule.
  Israel has always embraced this path in a Middle East that has long 
rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, 
Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different.
  There was a great English writer in the 19th century, George Eliot. 
It's a ``she.'' It was a pseudonym in those days. George Eliot 
predicted over a century ago that, once established, the Jewish state 
will shine like a bright star of freedom amid the despotisms of the 
East.
  Well, she was right.
  We have a free press, independent courts, an open economy, 
rambunctious parliamentary debates. Now, don't laugh. Ah, you see, you 
think you're tough on one another here in Congress. Come spend a day in 
the Knesset. Be my guest.
  Courageous Arab protesters are now struggling to secure these very 
same rights for their peoples, for their societies. We are proud in 
Israel that over 1 million Arab citizens of Israel have been enjoying 
these rights for decades. Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East 
and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic 
rights. Now, I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of 
those 300 million Arabs, less than one-half of 1 percent are truly 
free, and they're all citizens of Israel.
  The startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong 
about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East. 
Israel fully supports the desire of Arab peoples in our region to live 
freely. We long for the day when Israel will be one of many real 
democracies in the Middle East.
  Fifteen years ago, I stood at this very podium--by the way, it hasn't 
changed. I stood here, and I said that democracy must start to take 
root in the Arab world. Well, it has begun to take root, and this 
beginning holds the promise of a brilliant future of peace and 
prosperity because I believe that a Middle East that is genuinely 
democratic will be a Middle East truly of peace; but while we hope for 
the best and while we work for the best, we must also recognize that 
powerful forces oppose this future.
  They oppose modernity.
  They oppose democracy.
  They oppose peace.
  Foremost among these forces is Iran. The tyranny in Tehran brutalizes 
its own people. It supports attacks against American troops in 
Afghanistan and in Iraq. It subjugates Lebanon and Gaza. It sponsors 
terror worldwide.
  When I last stood here, I spoke of the consequences of Iran's 
developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out. The hinge of 
history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be 
upon us--a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.
  Militant Islam threatens the world.
  It threatens Islam.
  Now, I have no doubt--I am absolutely convinced--that it will 
ultimately be defeated. I believe it will eventually succumb to the 
forces of freedom and progress. It depends on cloistering young minds 
for a given number of years, and the process of opening up information 
will ultimately defeat this movement; but like other fanaticisms that 
were doomed to fail, militant Islam could exact an horrific price from 
all of us before its eventual demise. A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite 
a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a 
nuclear umbrella. It would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism a 
clear and present danger throughout the world.
  You see, I want you to understand what this means because, if we 
don't stop it, it is coming. They could put a bomb anywhere. They could 
put it in a missile. They're working on missiles that could reach this 
city. They could put it on a ship, inside a container, that could reach 
every port. They could eventually put it in a suitcase or in a subway.
  Now, the threat to my country cannot be overstated. Those who dismiss 
it are sticking their heads in the sand. In less than seven decades, 
after 6 million Jews were murdered, Iran's leaders deny the Holocaust 
of the Jewish people while calling for the annihilation of the Jewish 
state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every 
respectable forum on the planet.

  But there is something that makes the outrage even greater. Do you 
know what that is? It is the lack of outrage because, in much of the 
international community, the calls for our destruction are met with 
utter silence. It's even worse because there are many who rush to 
condemn Israel for defending itself against Iran's terror proxies.
  Not you. Not America. You've acted differently. You've condemned the 
Iranian regime for its genocidal aims. You've passed tough sanctions 
against Iran. History will salute you, America.
  President Obama has said that the United States is determined to 
prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The President 
successfully led the Security Council at the U.N. to adopt sanctions 
against Iran. You in Congress passed even tougher sanctions. Now, those 
words and these are vitally important; yet the Ayatollah regime briefly 
suspended its nuclear weapons program only once, in 2003, when it 
feared the possibility of military action. In that same year, Muammar 
Qadhafi gave up his nuclear weapons program and for the same reason.
  The more Iran believes that all options are on the table, the less 
the chance of confrontation; and this is why I ask you to continue to 
send an unequivocal message: that America will never permit Iran to 
develop nuclear weapons.
  Now, as for Israel, if history has taught the Jewish people anything, 
it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously. We are a 
nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say ``never 
again,'' we mean never again. Israel always reserves the right to 
defend itself.
  My friends, while Israel will be ever vigilant in its defense, we 
will never give up our quest for peace. I guess we will give it up when 
we achieve it, because we want peace, because we need peace. Now, we've 
achieved historic peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and these 
have held up for decades.
  I remember what it was like before we had peace. I was nearly killed 
in a firefight inside the Suez Canal. I mean that literally--inside the 
Suez Canal. I was going down to the bottom, with a 40-pound ammunition 
pack on my back, and somebody reached out to grab me, and they're still 
looking for the guy who did such a stupid thing. I was nearly killed 
there. I remember battling terrorists along both banks of the Jordan.
  Too many Israelis have lost loved ones, and I know their grief. I 
lost my brother. So no one in Israel wants a return to those terrible 
days. The peace with Egypt and Jordan has long served as an anchor of 
stability and peace in the heart of the Middle East, and this peace 
should be bolstered by economic and political support to all those who 
remain committed to peace.
  The peace agreements between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan 
are vital, but they are not enough. We must also find a way to forge a 
lasting peace with the Palestinians.
  Two years ago, I publicly committed to a solution of two states for 
two peoples--a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish state. I am willing 
to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace. As the 
leader of Israel, it is my responsibility to lead my people to peace. 
Now, this is not easy for me. It's not easy because I recognize

[[Page H3350]]

that, in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the 
ancestral Jewish homeland. You have to understand this:
  In Judea-Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We're 
not the British in India. We're not the Belgians in the Congo. This is 
the land of our forefathers--the land of Israel--to which Abraham 
brought the idea of one God, where David set out to confront Goliath, 
and where Isaiah saw a vision of eternal peace. No distortion of 
history--and boy, am I reading a lot of distortions of history lately, 
old and new. No distortion of history can deny the 4,000-year-old bond 
between the Jewish people and the Jewish land.
  But there is another truth.
  The Palestinians share this small land with us. We seek a peace in 
which they will be neither Israel's subjects nor its citizens. They 
should enjoy a national life of dignity as a free, viable and 
independent people, living in their own state. They should enjoy a 
prosperous economy where their creativity and initiative can flourish. 
Now, we've already seen the beginnings of what is possible. In the last 
2 years, the Palestinians have begun to build a better life for 
themselves.
  By the way, Prime Minister Fayyad has led this effort on their part, 
and I wish him a speedy recovery from his recent operation.
  On our side, we've helped the Palestinian economic growth by removing 
hundreds of barriers and roadblocks to the free flow of goods and 
people, and the results have been nothing short of remarkable. The 
Palestinian economy is booming--it is growing by more than 10 percent a 
year--and Palestinian cities, they look very different today than what 
they looked like just a few years ago. They have shopping malls, movie 
theaters, restaurants, banks. They even have e-businesses, but you 
can't see that when you visit them.
  That's what they have--it's a great change--and all of this is 
happening without peace. So imagine what could happen with peace. Peace 
would herald a new day for both our peoples, and it could also make the 
dream of a broader Arab-Israeli peace a realistic possibility.
  So now here is the question. You've got to ask it:
  If the benefits of peace with the Palestinians are so clear, why has 
peace eluded us? All six Israeli Prime Ministers since the signing of 
the Oslo Accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state, myself 
included.
  So why has peace not been achieved? Because so far the Palestinians 
have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it means accepting 
a Jewish state alongside it. You see, our conflict has never been about 
the establishment of a Palestinian state. It has always been about the 
existence of the Jewish state. This is what this conflict is about.
  In 1947, the U.N. voted to partition the land into a Jewish state and 
an Arab state. The Jews said yes. The Palestinians said no. In recent 
years, the Palestinians twice refused generous offers by Israeli Prime 
Ministers to establish a Palestinian state on virtually all the 
territory won by Israel in the Six-Day War. They were simply unwilling 
to end the conflict and--I regret to say this--they continue to educate 
their children to hate. They continue to name public squares after 
terrorists; and worst of all, they continue to perpetuate the fantasy 
that Israel will one day be flooded by the descendants of Palestinian 
refugees.
  My friends, this must come to an end.
  President Abbas must do what I have done--and I told you it wasn't 
easy for me. I stood before my people, and I said: I will accept a 
Palestinian state. It is time for President Abbas to stand before his 
people and say: I will accept a Jewish state.
  Those six words will change history.
  They will make it clear to the Palestinians that this conflict must 
come to an end, that they're not building a Palestinian state to 
continue the conflict with Israel but to end it, and those six words 
will convince the people of Israel that they have a true partner for 
peace.
  With such a partner, the Israeli people will be prepared to make a 
far-reaching compromise. I will be prepared to make a far-reaching 
compromise. This compromise must reflect the dramatic demographic 
changes that have occurred since 1967. The vast majority of the 650,000 
Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighborhoods and 
suburbs of Jerusalem and Greater Tel Aviv. Now, these areas are densely 
populated, but they are geographically quite small; and under any 
realistic peace agreement, these areas, as well as other places of 
critical strategic and national importance, will be incorporated into 
the final borders of Israel. The status of the settlements will be 
decided only in negotiations; but we must also be honest, so I am 
saying today something that should be said publicly by all those who 
are serious about peace:
  In any real peace agreement, in any peace agreement that ends the 
conflict, some settlements will end up beyond Israel's borders. Now, 
the precise delineation of those borders must be negotiated. We will be 
generous about the size of the future Palestinian state; but as 
President Obama said, the border will be different than the one that 
existed on June 4, 1967. Israel will not return to the indefensible 
boundaries of 1967.
  I want to be very clear on this point: Israel will be generous on the 
size of a Palestinian state, but we will be very firm on where we put 
the border with it. This is an important principle and shouldn't be 
lost.
  We recognize that a Palestinian state must be big enough to be 
viable, to be independent, to be prosperous. All of you and the 
President, too, have referred to Israel as the homeland of the Jewish 
people just as you've been talking about a future Palestinian state as 
the homeland of the Palestinian people. Jews from around the world have 
a right to emigrate to the one and only Jewish state, and the 
Palestinians from around the world should have a right to emigrate, if 
they so choose, to a Palestinian state.
  Here is what this means: it means that the Palestinian refugee 
problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel. Everybody knows 
this. It is time to say it, and it is important.
  And, as for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected the 
freedom of worship for all faiths in the city. Throughout the 
millennial history of the Jewish capital, the only time that Jews, 
Christians and Muslims could worship freely, could have unfettered 
access to their holy sites has been during Israel's sovereignty over 
Jerusalem. Jerusalem must never again be divided. Jerusalem must remain 
the united capital of Israel.
  I know this is a difficult issue for Palestinians, but I believe that 
with creativity and with goodwill a solution can be found. So this is 
the peace I plan to forge with a Palestinian partner committed to 
peace; but you know very well that, in the Middle East, the only peace 
that will hold is the peace you can defend, so peace must be anchored 
in security.
  In recent years, Israel withdrew from south Lebanon and from Gaza. We 
thought we'd get peace. That's not what we got. We got 12,000 rockets 
fired from those areas on our cities, on our children by Hezbollah and 
Hamas. The U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, they failed to prevent the 
smuggling of this weaponry. The European observers in Gaza, they 
evaporated overnight. So, if Israel simply walked out of the 
territories, the flow of weapons into a future Palestinian state would 
be unchecked, and missiles fired from it could reach virtually every 
home in Israel in less than a minute.
  I want you to think about that, too. Imagine there's a siren going on 
now and that we have less than 60 seconds to find shelter from an 
incoming rocket. Would you live that way? Do you think anybody can live 
that way? Well, we are not going to live that way either. The truth is 
that Israel needs unique security arrangements because of its unique 
size. It's one of the smallest countries in the world.
  Mr. Vice President, I'll grant you this, it's bigger than Delaware. 
It's even bigger than Rhode Island, but that's about it. Israel on the 
1967 lines would be half the width of the Washington beltway. Now, here 
is a bit of nostalgia. I came to Washington 30 years ago as a young 
diplomat. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. There is an 
America beyond the beltway, but Israel on the 1967 lines would be only 
9 miles wide. So much for strategic depth.
  So it is therefore vital--absolutely vital--that a Palestinian state 
be fully

[[Page H3351]]

demilitarized; and it is vital--absolutely vital--that Israel maintain 
a long-term military presence along the Jordan River. Solid security 
arrangements on the ground are necessary not only to protect the peace; 
they are necessary to protect Israel in case the peace unravels 
because, in our unstable region, no one can guarantee that our peace 
partners today will be there tomorrow.
  And, my friends, when I say tomorrow, I don't mean some distant time 
in the future. I mean tomorrow.
  Peace can only be achieved around a negotiating table. The 
Palestinian attempt to impose a settlement through the United Nations 
will not bring peace. It should be forcefully opposed by all those who 
want to see this conflict end. I appreciate the President's clear 
position on this issue. Peace can not be imposed. It must be 
negotiated; but peace can only be negotiated with partners committed to 
peace, and Hamas is not a partner for peace. Hamas remains committed to 
Israel's destruction and to terrorism. They have a charter. That 
charter not only calls for the obliteration of Israel. It says: kill 
the Jews everywhere you find them. Hamas' leader condemned the killing 
of Osama bin Laden and praised him as a holy warrior.
  Now, again, I want to make this clear: Israel is prepared to sit down 
today and negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority. I believe we 
can fashion a brilliant future for our children, but Israel will not 
negotiate with a Palestinian Government backed by the Palestinian 
version of al Qaeda.
  That we will not do.
  So I say to President Abbas: tear up your pact with Hamas. Sit down 
and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state. If you do, I promise 
you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian 
state as a new member of the United Nations; it will be the first to do 
so.
  My friends, the momentous trials of the last century and the 
unfolding events of this century attest to the decisive role of the 
United States in defending peace and advancing freedom. Providence 
entrusted the United States to be the guardian of liberty. All people 
who cherish freedom owe a profound debt of gratitude to your great 
Nation. Among the most grateful nations is my nation--the people of 
Israel--who fought for their liberty and survival against impossible 
odds in ancient and modern times alike.
  I speak on behalf of the Jewish people and the Jewish state when I 
say to you, representatives of America: thank you. Thank you. Thank you 
for your unwavering support for Israel. Thank you for ensuring that the 
flame of freedom burns bright throughout the world.
  May God bless all of you, and may God forever bless the United States 
of America.
  [Applause, the Members rising.]
  At 12 o'clock and 10 minutes p.m., His Excellency Binyamin Netanyahu, 
Prime Minister of Israel, accompanied by the committee of escort, 
retired from the Hall of the House of Representatives.
  The Deputy Sergeant at Arms escorted the invited guests from the 
Chamber in the following order:
  The Members of the President's Cabinet;
  The Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

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