Netanyahu addresses The Jewish Agency Board of Governors
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the Board of Governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel in Jerusalem. Dr Danny Lamm and Jack Smorgon were Australian representatives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hugs Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky, at the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem photo: Dave Bender, The Jewish Agency for Israel
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Chairman of the Executive, Natan Sharansky that “I have come to request that the Board of Governors extend your term by another four years.” He told Sharansky that he was: “symbol of Jewish unity and the triumph of the Jewish People over adversity; but you are much more than just a symbol. You have always worked tirelessly to secure the Jewish future.”
After declaring that “The de-legitimisation of Israel in the face of attempts to destroy it is one of the great moral failures of our time”, Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Board of Governors: “We should stand up for Israel and the truth. I cannot think of anyone better suited for that than you. I value your commitment to Jewish education and values and to the Jewish state. It is a great partnership that exists between the government and the Jewish Agency. I look forward to working together with you to help secure the Jewish people with Natan at the helm.”
The Prime Minister emphasised that he views Iran as the greatest threat facing Israel and that North Korea proved that economic sanctions alone would not work. He said that only “sanctions combined with a robust, credible military threat” might stop Iran, “An Iranian nuclear weapon would transform the Middle East into a tinderbox, changing the world as we know it” he added.
Netanyahu welcomed the coming visit of President Barack Obama and noted that in addition to the Iranian issue he would raise Syria and restarting negotiations with the Palestinians, “We need to seek a realistic peace process with the Palestinians, one which guarantees peace and security”, he added that “I don’t want to waste another four years negotiating about the negotiations. I place no preconditions for negotiations. I wish this were true for the Palestinians. The visit of President Obama is an opportunity to reset this.”
During his speech Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized the need for unity in order to overcome the challenges that Israel faces. With regard to the coalition negotiations he said, “We face great changes in the regimes around us and the weapons around us. I don’t believe that we can do that without unity. I am trying to build a broad national unity government which will extend to the whole Jewish world.”
The Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency is comprised of organizations from around the world and meets three times a year under the leadership of the Chairman of the Board of Governors James S. Tisch, and the Chairman of the Executive Natan Sharansky to hold in depth strategic discussions about issues affecting the Jewish world and Israeli society and to formulate Jewish Agency policy.
Dr Danny Lamm told J-Wire: “It was an excellent address which covered all Israel’s and the Jewish world’s issues . Very well received by all governors . In particular he dealt with the Obama’s forthcoming visit and Israel’s expectations”
