PM Netanyahu addresses the official memorial ceremony for Benjamin Ze’ev
Herzl
Herzl's words continue to guide us. Israel is a beacon of enlightenment and
progress in the heart of the turbulent Middle East. We are not perfect, but
there are none more enlightened or better than us at meeting the tasks and
threats directed at us.

(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
26 July 2016

Mere hours after the memorial service for the soldiers who fell during
Operation Protective Edge, we are again here at Mount Herzl, paying our
respects to the giant of vision and action, the giant who laid the
foundations for building our sovereignty.

The IDF soldiers who are buried here on this mountain, and in the other
military cemeteries around the country, represent a broad range of
viewpoints, backgrounds, ways of life. What brought them to unify around the
same piece of fabric, as Herzl called it, around our flag? What brought them
to stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the country? They did so thanks
to the foundation that unites us all, the profound knowledge that our
forefathers walked on this land thousands of years ago and that this is
where the chain of generations began; the shared understanding that this is
our one and only homeland; the internal sense, as Herzl said, that we are
one people – Herzl is the foundation that unites the generations of national
renaissance.

We can imagine Herzl without the Zionism movement – I am certain he would
have continued his work as a successful writer and journalist – but we
cannot imagine the Zionist movement without Herzl. Herzl was the person who
channeled the longing for salvation that had resided in the spirits of the
Jewish people since ancient times into practical channels of action. Like
Moses in his time – and here I would like to register a complaint about the
words of introduction I heard, that Herzl was one of the great leaders of
our people in the new era. I disagree, from every era. From Moses to
Theodor – he was the Moses of our time. He led the people, a nation of
slaves, to the Promised Land. It was thus for Moses and it was thus for
Herzl. He taught an enslaved people to take their fate into their hands and
return to Zion.

There is no doubt that Herzl had a great measure of genius. At the time,
there was a theoretical debate as to what the fate of Paganini, the great
violinist, the genius musician, would have been if he had been born before
the violin was invented. Herzl provided the answer. Paganini could have
existed even before the invention of the violin and just would have created
it by himself. Herzl also created something out of nothing. His genius found
expression in his ability to sense the pulse of his era, to identify
historic changes that were altering the world order and mobilize them for a
creative solution, the solution to the Jews' distress in their exile.

Herzl was endowed with foresight, with the ability to identify dangers even
before they appeared and with a developed political awareness. His writings
are filled with repeated warnings. He warned against the tidal wave of
anti-Semitism that was likely to bring disaster to the Jewish existence in
the exile. The increasing hatred of Jews in Europe, and especially the
Holocaust that destroyed one-third of our people, regrettably proved that he
was entirely correct in his warnings and visions. He diagnosed the
foundation of hatred upon which our existence in exile rested. He also was
sharply critical of the complacence shown by certain circles given the
hostile surroundings.

We must all memorize this lesson: We can never take existential dangers and
threats to our destruction lightly. However, this was not enough for Herzl.
He said that we must build tools to defend ourselves, build a country, build
an army. That is what he said. Today, Israel's enemies know very well that
our strength is backed by military force. We do not hesitate to use it,
defensively and offensively, in order to rid ourselves of danger.

Herzl was the first Jewish statesman – and here I will add "in the new
era" – who took history's stage not as an obsequious lobbyist, but as a
proud national leader, one who stood tall. Even today, his tremendous
boldness in approaching world lead ers and influential people is
astonishing. He did not usually appeal to their emotions. He did not appeal
to the emotions of the Kaiser nor those of the Sultan – but rather he
appealed to their interests. He was not always successful but he was a
statesman. He understood the importance of emotions vis-à-vis those who were
openhearted or whose emotions could be appealed to, but he spoke with them
about their interests.

When Herzl began his impressive diplomatic career, he was only 36 years old,
an unknown youngster. He was motivated by internal passion and faith in the
moral justness of our people's demand – to allow the Jews to return to their
land. With this sense of justness and with his internal passion, as well as
his smarts, he stood before the Kaiser, the Sultan, kings and counts. His
sharp eye deciphered the map of international relations at the time. He
understood that political contacts were based on two main components:
alliances and interes ts. He tried to convince those he spoke with that
their support for Zionist goals would lead to great advantages for them.

To the Kaiser, he said: You want to remove the Jews and I want to remove the
Jews. To the Sultan, he said: You have an acute economic crisis, I will
speak with the financiers, with the Jewish money people and we will help
solve your problem. The Sultan was very interested, but Herzl could not
convince the Jewish financiers to give several million dollars. Who knows
what would have happened had he succeeded. So it is true that all the
political contacts made by Herzl were not successful, and despite that, he
did succeed in making Zionism a factor recognized by the family of nations,
and that should be taken into account.

We follow in Herzl's footsteps when it comes to our foreign relations. Over
the past several years, Israel has enjoyed an impressive political
flourishing. Countries in the region and around the world come to us for two
main reasons: the rich experience that we unfortunately have in fighting
terrorism; and Israeli innovation in a variety of fields, which Herzl also
wrote about in his book, Altneuland, in which he describes the technology,
the science, the technique as he calls it.

Several weeks ago, I made an important state visit to four African
countries. I started my journey in Uganda, which was associated with the
Zionist movement from its inception. Herzl sought a safe haven there, but
only as a temporary stop on the way here. However, many people objected to
this idea, including my grandfather, who was a delegate at the Zionist
Congress. He said only the Land of Israel would do, and Herzl understood.

We have come a long way since then. Herzl's great political accomplishment
came only after his death with the Balfour Declaration in 1917. In this
founding document, Britain, and after it the nations of the world, declared
their willingness to establish a national home for th e Jewish people in the
land of Israel. The declaration expressed recognition of the Jewish peoples'
undisputed connection to its homeland, the land of Israel.

However, now, after nearly 4,000 years of Jewish history inextricably tied
to this land, almost one hundred years after the Balfour Declaration, 68
years after the establishment of the State of Israel, there are people who
still deny our strong connection to our land. I heard that the Palestinian
Authority intends to sue Britain over the Balfour Declaration. In other
words, they do not object to the Jewish state, they object to the national
home that preceded the Jewish state. Of course they will fail, but this
shines a light clarifying that the root of the conflict is the refusal to
recognize a Jewish state in any borders. It was and remains the heart of
this conflict, and until we do not recognize this and tell the nations of
the world, "Here, this is the root of the conflict, that and the incitement
that acco mpanies it," only then – without diagnoses, without prognoses –
there is no cure, there is no relief. But this attempt will also fail.

Herzl's words will continue to guide us. The land of Israel is the homeland
of our forefathers. It is precious to us and we will never forget it. We are
established here, in accordance with our teachings – a free, democratic,
tolerant, liberal, advanced, prosperous country. Israel is a beacon of
enlightenment and progress in the heart of the turbulent Middle East. We are
not perfect, but we are the most advanced country, and there are none more
enlightened or better than us at meeting the tasks and threats directed at
us.

Herzl believed in scientific and technological innovations. In his time,
there was the radio, the telegraph, electricity. In our time, there are
computers, cyber, sophisticated medical instrumentation. The principle is
the same, and like Herzl, we encourage the growth of the free economy
endorsed by Herzl, the innovation, the spirit of invention. At the same
time, we are strengthening our affinity with our ancient past, the heritage
of our forefathers, and this Herzlian dream continues to be realized every
day in the State of Israel.

One hundred and twelve years after the death of our state visionary, the
paver of our path to independence, we continue to reap what Herzl sowed, to
walk in his footsteps and realize his vision.

May his memory be blessed.