Posted on 08/14/2006 1:01:42 PM PDT by fanfan
Opposition chairman tells Knesset 'Lebanon war proves that concept of unilateral withdrawals has collapsed'
Following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's address to the Knesset plenum Monday night, chairman of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage and delivered a compelling, if biting, speech. He recounted his efforts to help the government in its PR war, but was quick to criticize the government's policy.
According to Netanyahu, "There were failures in identifying the threat, in managing the war, in dealing with the homefront…There is no doubt that we must learn our lesson and correct our mistakes. We were asleep and we received a wake-up call."
"In 2000, we withdrew from Lebanon without guarantees and without security agreements, and this action brought about Hizbullah's speech about spider webs, which was adopted by Hamas. The resulting Intifada made us decide, out of pain and out of good will, to withdraw unilaterally once more," Netanyahu declared.
"These unilateral withdrawals deteriorate our deterrence, and lend credence to our enemies, a credence that improves their ability to bombard our cities and towns. This concept (of unilateral withdrawals) is now disappearing, and rightly so," he added.
Like Olmert, Netanyahu opened his speech with condolences, noting both the harsh incidents and united Israeli spirit seen in recent days: "All of our hearts skipped a beat when our soldiers went to battle to protect us and all of our hearts grieved alongside the families of fallen soldiers or the citizens who fell victim to attacks on our cities."
Ahmadinejad most bitter enemy since Hitler
Netanyahu emphasized that "This is a moment of unity and a moment of self examination. I don't mean simply learning lessons from the recent conflict. I think that we need to examine our collective self as a state, based on one basic principle – every living thing must do two things in order to survive: it must identify dangers and it must arm itself sufficiently to protect itself from these dangers."
Netanyahu stated the importance of nurturing military, state, economic and spiritual strength: "A hundred years ago, our people did not have such capabilities. A leader, Herzl, saw the burning coals of anti-Semitism and understood that there was a threat of a fire that would threaten the Jews of Europe and eventually the Jews of the rest of the world. Today I say: we are standing before a grave danger. A new potential fire threatens our people. Not only our soldiers, citizens and economy, but our very existence."
"Yes, in each generation there are those that rise up seeking our destruction. But since Hitler, there has not risen such a bitter enemy as Iran's president, Ahmadinejad, who openly declares his desire to annihilate us and his development of nuclear weapons in order to carry out this desire. Until he carries out his scheme, he is using his covert forces: in the south, Hamas, a Sunni force, and in the north, Hizbullah, a part of the Shiite arc that extends from Tehran to Lebanon," Netanyahu elaborated.
The opposition chairman praised security and rescue forces, as well as citizens in the line of fire and "a third force, that came forward, the force of the entire nation…people enlisted privately…businessmen, teachers, nurses, spiritual leaders, artists, ordinary people."
"The nation opened their hearts and pockets and homes," he continued. "In times of trouble, the people of Israel are all brothers and, in times of trouble, we must understand that the fate of one is the fate of all and that all people of Israel are responsible for one another." Regardless, Netanyahu stated that private donations would not suffice and that government intervention would be required.
Ping.
bump
WALLACE: "Bibi, I agree with you, but you haven't watched my interview....Ahmeg...Ahgmen...The President of Iran is a teddy bear!"
Wish the Dems would take note of this speech!
Drop the Hebrew hammer down.
"Yes, in each generation there are those that rise up seeking our destruction. But since Hitler, there has not risen such a bitter enemy as Iran's president, Ahmadinejad, who openly declares his desire to annihilate us and his development of nuclear weapons in order to carry out this desire. Until he carries out his scheme, he is using his covert forces: in the south, Hamas, a Sunni force, and in the north, Hizbullah, a part of the Shiite arc that extends from Tehran to Lebanon," Netanyahu elaborated.
This guy lives in the world of reality!! Bibi just became the next Israeli PM. Olmert is done and will be tossed out of office very soon.
I didn't know we had a Bibi rule.
That's great news!
:-)
Oh yes my FRiend the rule is, if Bibi is mentioned a photo must be included. It is the female version of the Ann Coulter rule for men.
They wouldn't understand the concept.
Hizbullah's speech about spider websAnybody know this one?
I am going to borrow that one.
Unfortunately..., it may not make any difference! I suspect that "Israel" will cease to exist in my lifetime...
The real lesson of the current conflicts is..., HIDE AMONGST CIVILIANS TO LAUNCH ATTACKS AND DEPEND UPON THE MEDIA TO PORTRAY THE RESULTS AS SOLELY THE DEFENDERS FAULT!!!
"Politically Correct to the End" may be the inscription on the grave of Israel.......... (and...., other Nations as well???!!!).
Enemy of islm bump....
Agreed, those are hard shoes to fill and he seems to be doing it. One thing my husband and I noticed last night watching that interview was that every so often, Ahmadinejad let his face slip and for a second you could see the absolute rage underneath the stupid grin, when his face actually twitched as he struggled to hide his true nature of murderous nutjob.
I believe it's where Nasrallah likened Israeli power to a spider-web, which falls apart on touch.
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