‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
01/07/2015
PM Netanyahu's Address at US Independence Day Celebrations at the US
Ambassador's Residence
Sara and I are delighted to be with all of you. This is a great day because on the 4th of
July, all Israelis unite with our American brothers and sisters. It's our celebration too.
That's because the history of our two countries is remarkably intertwined. The
Founding Fathers of America were inspired by the Bible, and specifically by the Book
of the Exodus, by the dream of building freedom in a new Promised Land. And as you
stand in the Chamber of the American Congress, you see right across you the image of
one man – Moses, with a quote from the Bible.
And since the establishment of the United States, that's two and a half centuries, the
vision of justice and the vision of peace espoused by the Prophets of Israel served as a
guiding light for Americans from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln to Martin
Luther King to many others seeking to form a more perfect union.
But just as our heritage inspired America, America inspired us. If you read the
Founding Fathers of Zionism, you see how powerful and inspirational the American
Revolution was – the ideas of freedom and liberty. They reverberated everywhere for
people seeking liberty, but they reverberated powerfully for the Zionist movement and
the ideas of reestablishing our land, our promise, our justice here .
Zionism has always been about freedom, about national freedom, the Jewish people
returning to our ancestral homeland to rebuild our one and only sovereign state. But
it's also been about personal freedom. We built the State of Israel on the same
democratic foundations upon which the United States was built.
And what a remarkable foundation it's proven to be.
The Middle East is plagued by tyranny. Majorities are oppressed. Minorities are
persecuted. Women are subjugated. Gays are lynched. The press, if there is any, is
muzzled.
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‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
Yet in this turbulent and violent Middle East, Israel stands out as a beacon of freedom
and human rights, with unfailing constancy, an island of democracy in a sea of
despotism.
The Middle East is imploding all around us. States that have existed for a century are
disintegrating. The forces of militant Islam are rushing to fill the void, the militant
Sunnis led by ISIS, the militant Shiites led by Iran.
Iran conducts a campaign of aggression in the region and terrorism worldwide. It
seeks to build nuclear weapons to advance its mission to export the Islamic revolution,
so they say, around the globe. For the mullahs that rule Tehran, Israel is the small
Satan and America is the great Satan. They say, Dan, we are you and you are us. And
you know something? On this, they are absolutely right. We stand with America.
America stands with us.
Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon, Iran's worldwide campaign of terrorism and
aggression must be stopped. So too must the campaign of ISIS, whose savagery is now
sweeping the Middle East. We ourselves have felt the reverberations of Islamist
terrorism in the last few days. Today I visited the hospital of those Israelis wounded –
remarkable heroism shown by a young woman and by a young man. And we grieve
for the loss of a brilliant, brilliant young Malachi. We suffer those pains and we see
that that terrorism is not only exploding within our own country. We see ISIS at the
gates – across the border in the Golan, across the border in Egypt. We send our
condolences to the government and people of Egypt for the fallen Egyptians slain by
ISIS terror .
We must stand up to all the forces of militant Islam, those led by Iran, those led by
ISIS. We should not strengthen one or the other. We should weaken both of them. And
as we do this, we will continue our quest for a durable and secure peace with the
Palestinians, mindful that we must not let militant Islam gain another foothold.
My friends,
The values we share are at the heart of the unbreakable bond between the United
States and Israel. Dan, we are family. Let me translate. We are mishpucha. And we are
partners.
20-6779006 :‫ פקס‬,20-7626076 :‫ טל‬,91919 ‫ ירושלים‬,‫ הקריה‬,3 ‫רח' קפלן‬
3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem 91919, Tel: +972-2-670-5465, Fax: +972-2-566-9245
E-MAIL: MEDIA@PMO.GOV.IL
‫משרד ראש הממשלה‬
THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
‫مکتب رئيس ال ُحكومة‬
I take this opportunity to once again express my appreciation to President Obama, the
United States Congress and the people of America. I want to thank them for their
continual support of the State of Israel. Across the length and breadth of the United
States, Americans of all stripes stand with the Jewish state. I've said it before but I'll
say it again tonight: Israel has no better friend than America and America has no
better friend than Israel.
On this day that celebrates freedom both of us know this: Neither one of us can take
life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness for granted. Americans and Israelis have
paid a high price to protect these sacred principles. We are stronger when we face our
great challenges together.
And today the bells of freedom ring across America. They ring loud in Israel too. May
we always cherish our freedom. May we always cherish our friendship.
On behalf of all Israelis, I wish all Americans a happy 4th of July. God bless Israel and
God bless the United States of America.
20-6779006 :‫ פקס‬,20-7626076 :‫ טל‬,91919 ‫ ירושלים‬,‫ הקריה‬,3 ‫רח' קפלן‬
3 Kaplan St. Jerusalem 91919, Tel: +972-2-670-5465, Fax: +972-2-566-9245
E-MAIL: MEDIA@PMO.GOV.IL