LUIS ALBERTO LACALLE: Mr. President of the World Jewish Congress - - PDF document

LUIS ALBERTO LACALLE: Mr. President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder, Mr. Chairman of the Governing Board Eduardo Elzstain. Let me also recognize our regional head Jack Terpins, and his wife, from the Latin American Jewish Congress. Let me also recognize, being an honorary doctorate of the Hebrew University, Mr. Lior Herman, the department of International Relations – thank you, I always keep that honour of the Jewish Hebrew University very close to my heart. And of course our Ambassador, Bernardo Grevier, cannot be here but he sent the best part of his family - his beautiful wife Karin. Thank you Karin for your presence. Her husband is in New York now, working there. And

• f course Alberto Rodrigues, our counsel in Israel, they are the representatives of my

county in Israel so I am am very happy to have them here in this room. Thank you then for the opportunity of sharing some comments and remarks on the situation we are living in this region and in the world. Coming from a faraway region offers me a perspective of distance, and belonging to a small country born, in spite of the neighbours sometimes, in a situation my country has in South America – you remember we are the smallest country in South America – gives me the sense of being born in a small country. So we are very near, but of course in a different dimension. We always remember that we were among those that promoted the decision of 1947 of the recognition of the State of Israel and that has been an honor for our country through all these years. Two critical issues appear in the horizon of Israel and the Jewish people and I would try to comment on them. The first are the latest events in this region that began at the beginning of this year – and haven‟t finished yet. They have shaken the region and they will go on shaking the region and perhaps the world. And the other is the bid by the Palestinian Authority for getting the recognition of the United Nations of the so-called statehood of Palestine. But, sadly enough, these are not only, are not the only difficult events we are living

• through. Just remember that we are in the middle of a tremendous crisis in Europe and

perhaps in other parts of the important world. Let me tell you and remember you that we are in the beginning of an electoral campaign in the United States, which affects the policy

• f that country. It is no mean event the struggle for the Presidency in the United States -

so early always - but has an influence on the international affairs. And, of course, the election in Turkey and the change of direction that we expect or will see in that important country that will have to decide one of the most historically important decisions – Europe or Asia. This is a turning point of the history of this part of the world – the Ottoman Empire, now personified in Republic of Turkey. Will it become a European power? Will it be rejected by Europe? That can be a very major turning point of the history of this region. But we are focused on these two events. The first and by far, from my point of view, the first of these problems, the turmoil or the events that are developing in the countries of this region, is the most complex and unknown in its final consequences. I dare say that the turmoil, the uprisings or revolutions, you name them, we have witnessed in the Middle East countries are a novelty, do not have a precedent. This time it is not the process of transition from Sadat to Mubarak, it is not the succession of one Assad by another, it is not

even what happened long time ago in Libya – King Idris substituted by the young colonel, who is now the known dictator of the neighborhood. These events are completely different. The forces, unleashed by the social networks, are mostly unknown to us, the world over. No scientist or scholar has yet devised a system of thought to at least obtain a partial explanation how this network of power works, because it is the ultimate anarchy, it is an ultimate empowerment of each and every person. We have seen in modern times mobilization of masses, we have seen upheavals of many kind, promoted by charismatic leaders or well-organized parties – that is the common fair

• f politics. And we could say that those kinds of events were very typical of the Arab

world, we have seen every model of them, but what is afoot now has no kin in these past

• experiences. Indeed, the world has never experienced something of this kind. The power,

unleashed by the cell phone, by the computer, by the million instant connections between each and every individual is a force nobody can rule or nobody can guess about its final decision or final – how can I say it – final end. It is like opening the Pandora box - and it has been opened in this part of the world. Not only here. We have seen similar situations in Europe and I will comment immediately

• n them. It is the dream of the anarchist, it is the nightmare of us all. Where or when

could we see a link of such force that unites human beings with common thread that cannot be countered by the police or by the army, by the political leaders or religious

• leaders. Nobody can control nor direct this kind of power that has been opened in the

world for the first time. No secret service can keep an eye on every message, going with the speed of light from

• ne telephone to the other, from one computer to the other. No riot police can curb one

and everyone to submission, because everyone is on the march. Let me mention as an example of how difficult it is to analyze this kind of events with what has happening in Spain. For many days young people, the „Indignados‟, the mad, were camping in La Puerta del Sol. There they placed their demands, finally they decided to

• leave. They had elections for the local and regional authorities and we have elections very

soon for the national government. But these people don‟t want to vote. So, this tremendous force that we had the illusion that in democracies could be channeled through the normal existing parties or founding new parties – “we don‟t want to vote”. But they are a power! So you can see how dangerous this situation is and if in the normally democratic countries they don‟t want to participate, what is left for these imperfect democracies we know in this region? So, I do think that we are in the beginning of a time, in which the political process can – and I may say, will – reproduce in many different parts of the world, especially where the channels of democracy are not to be found and even – as I was commenting – in those countries this current, this force doesn‟t want to be channeled through the civilized way of gaining power and legitimacy in democracy. How can these upheavals, rioting, revolutions that – I must add once again – have not finished, have just began, how can they affect the position of Israel – once again, the only really working democracy in the region?

Well, one hope – I was hearing somebody on the television yesterday – I think a bit wishfully thinking – said: “Well, this will end in democratic systems being adopted by Egypt, by Tunisia, by Libya, by Syria”. Well, I don‟t know really if democracy is so easy to be implanted after you have thirty years, forty years, fifty years of dictatorship and don‟t have the gymnastics of democracy, the exercise of the vote. But let‟s hope it is that way. I don‟t think so, but let‟s imagine it goes that way. There is one danger in the next step, because in these countries one way to get votes, one sure way to get votes, is to blame Israel. So it will be very easy to get elected on an anti- Israel, anti-Jewish platform. Because those people have been hearing for decades the same song. So if you are going into campaign and you are trying to get votes, well, you just sing the song the people want to hear. So even in the event that democracy will begin to be the system of governing those countries and electing authorities, I do think that there is a danger lurking in the future, because populism is one way of corrupting democracy, keeping the forms of democracy, but at the same time corrupting it in the practice. And I once again say that anti-Israelism is very popular, because it has been sown, the seed of that idea has been sown for many years and that can be very dangerous. Gone are the certainties of the past. Yesterday we had known quantities in the equation of

• power. We had Mubarak in Egypt, we had Assad – father or son, we had the others, so the

certainty is one of the blessings of international policy. Sometimes is better to have the known devil there than the new one coming over. Well, that is not going to come back. So it is not easy to sail in uncharted waters. I would not like to be in the shoes of the Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister, he said this morning, in this time of the history of Israel. But we do not know the way the dice will fall. In the face of these events we should go back to the basic point of our policy or our belief

• r our struggle. Those principles are those that gave birth to the recognition of the State
• f Israel as a sovereign country.

In this sense I do think anything new, but standing fast by the essential affirmation of independence of the State of Israel and not admitting that a country, international

• rganization or political movement can question the right of Israel to exist.

Moreover, in the event of future negotiations no progress can be made in any of them, if it is not preceded by the unilateral, unconditional and unequivocal recognition of the independence, sovereignty and self-determination of the Jewish people in the Jewish land as a final and definitive fact of international relationships. (applause) One thing is to criticize the policies of the State of Israel or the Government of Israel – they can be wrong as any Government, but another thing altogether is to deny the existence of the State of Israel. As long as any dark force thinks, talks and acts otherwise, no better argument can be found or held on behalf of our stand with Israel and its people than the fact of our defense

• f those principles.

Let me share now some remarks on a very painful issue, which is the Palestinian State issue. Since the very moment of the 1947 Resolution the two-state solution has been in the center of the Middle East problem. Since then the obstacle to the arrival of a solution has been the Palestinian Authority and the Arab countries. One permanent line has continued through all these sixty something years. And this line is that the only authorities, the only entities to find a solution to this problem are the State

• f Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The bilateralism of this solution is the only

permanent thread that passes and crosses through the Resolution of 1947, the Oslo compromise, the Camp David accord, you name it. All the decisions either of the two parts

• r of the international powers that wanted to help is that this is a bilateral decision of the

State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Now we see an international scheme taking place in an effort, orchestrated by leftist governments and it is orchestrated, you know it, I know it. This idea of recognition, unilateral recognition by the Assembly of United Nations is on the go. Sadly enough, my own government, the government of my own country has shamed us, we are one of the first to recognize this so-called state of Palestine. They are trying to circumvent the rules of the United Nations. If next September the General Assembly does approve a resolution in this sense, the only thing that the Palestinian cause will get is a public relations coup, because it is not legal, it is not the competence of the General Assembly of the United Nations to recognize a state. So what we see is the destruction of the peace process. This will bring the peace process back to number zero, to the beginning of the game. And that is what countries like mine don‟t seem to realize. They are going against the peace process by this unilateral recognition. Of course, the UN‟s prestige is not what it used to be, we all know it. We must only remember which countries form part of the Committee on Human Rights to see how the principles of the United Nations are being mongrelized. But the idea, the political idea is on the go and I do think that preventive action should be taken in public relations, in governments, in social organizations. Let‟s not just wait for this thing to happen. We know it will happen, but we must try and fight the battle of making it hard for governments, for nations to proceed to the vote in the moment of the General Assembly. The problem of the flotilla, of these boats that came over – we were caught unaware in

• ur country of what was happening, we didn‟t have enough information and that was

against the interests of Israel. So this time let‟s prepare our summaries, our connections, our interviews and go everywhere to make our point before September. Of course, I will not teach you how to act, you have 75 years of experience in dealing with much worst situations than this, but as a politician, as a member of the Uruguayan Parliament let me tell you that more work is needed in preparation of this event. So I

would suggest that all the efforts of the World Jewish Congress can be – or should be – put to that effect. Of course, we know the final vote, we know it will be against the interests of the State of Israel, but let me tell you that we must go back to what I was calling the essential position

• f all peace-loving countries on the subject of Israel. If any, and as long as any
• rganization or country denies the right of the State of Israel to exist, we will stand by

Israel, come rain or shine. This barbaric, autocratic idea that a country can be erased from the face of the Earth is not to be accepted even as an idea, because it is barbaric and it is autocratic and it defies the imagination that somebody can even think that a country can be denied the right of existence. Sixty years after some continue to call for the throwing of the Jews to the sea. So much for all the menaces. Here stands Israel – free and strong as a beacon of civilization and

• democracy. (applause)

Ready, we are ready to turn swords into…and for the time being wielding the swords in strong hands will be much better.