Bibi Does The UNGA

His speech in full:

The United Nations, New York City. Tuesday, October 1, 2013

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Thank you, Mr. President.

I feel deeply honored and privileged to stand here before you today representing the citizens of the state of Israel. We are an ancient people. We date back nearly 4,000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have journeyed through time. We’ve overcome the greatest of adversities.

And we re-established our sovereign state in our ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.

Now, the Jewish people’s odyssey through time has taught us two things: Never give up hope, always remain vigilant. Hope charts the future. Vigilance protects it.

Today our hope for the future is challenged by a nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction. But I want you to know, that wasn’t always the case. Some 2,500 years ago the great Persian king Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. He issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the Jews to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. That’s a Persian decree. And thus began an historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times.

But in 1979 a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hope for democracy, it always led wild chants of “death of the Jews.”

Now, since that time, presidents of Iran have come and gone. Some presidents were considered moderates, other hard-liners. But they’ve all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime, that creed that is espoused and enforced by the real power in Iran, the dictator known as the supreme leader, first Ayatollah Khomeini and now Ayatollah Khamenei.

President Rouhani, like the presidents who came before him, is a loyal servant of the regime. He was one of only six candidates the regime permitted to run for office. See, nearly 700 other candidates were rejected.

So what made him acceptable? Well, Rouhani headed Iran’s Supreme National Security Council from 1989 through 2003. During that time Iran’s henchmen gunned down opposition leaders in a Berlin restaurant. They murdered 85 people at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. They killed 19 American soldiers by blowing up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

Are we to believe that Rouhani, the national security adviser of Iran at the time, knew nothing about these attacks?

Of course he did, just as 30 years ago Iran’s security chiefs knew about the bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

Rouhani was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005. He masterminded the — the strategy which enabled Iran to advance its nuclear weapons program behind a smoke screen of diplomatic engagement and very soothing rhetoric.

Now I know: Rouhani doesn’t sound like Ahmadinejad. But when it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf’s clothing. Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the eyes — the wool over the eyes of the international community.

Well, like everyone else, I wish we could believe Rouhani’s words, but we must focus on Iran’s actions. And it’s the brazen contrast, this extraordinary contradiction, between Rouhani’s words and Iran’s actions that is so startling. Rouhani stood at this very podium last week and praised Iranian democracy — Iranian democracies. But the regime that he represents executes political dissidents by the hundreds and jails them by the thousands.

Rouhani spoke of, quote, “the human tragedy in Syria.” Yet, Iran directly participates in Assad’s murder and massacre of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Syria. And that regime is propping up a Syrian regime that just used chemical weapons against its own people.

Rouhani condemned the, quote, “violent scourge of terrorism.” Yet, in the last three years alone, Iran has ordered, planned or perpetrated terrorist attacks in 25 cities in five continents.

Rouhani denounces, quote, “attempts to change the regional balance through proxies.” Yet, Iran is actively destabilizing Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and many other Middle Eastern countries.

Rouhani promises, quote, “constructive engagement with other countries.” Yet, two years ago, Iranian agents tried to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Washington, D.C. And just three weeks ago, an Iranian agent was arrested trying to collect information for possible attacks against the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Some constructive engagement.

I wish I could be moved by Rouhani’s invitation to join his wave — a world against violence and extremism. Yet, the only waves Iran has generated in the last 30 years are waves of violence and terrorism that it has unleashed in the region and across the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could believe Rouhani, but I don’t because facts are stubborn things, and the facts are that Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rouhani’s soothing rhetoric.

Last Friday Rouhani assured us that in pursuit of its nuclear program, Iran — this is a quote — Iran has never chosen deceit and secrecy, never chosen deceit and secrecy. Well, in 2002 Iran was caught red-handed secretly building an underground centrifuge facility in Natanz. And then in 2009 Iran was again caught red-handed secretly building a huge underground nuclear facility for uranium enrichment in a mountain near Qom.

Rouhani tells us not to worry. He assures us that all of this is not intended for nuclear weapons. Any of you believe that? If you believe that, here’s a few questions you might want to ask. Why would a country that claims to only want peaceful nuclear energy, why would such a country build hidden underground enrichment facilities?

Why would a country with vast natural energy reserves invest billions in developing nuclear energy? Why would a country intent on merely civilian nuclear programs continue to defy multiple Security Council resolutions and incur the tremendous cost of crippling sanctions on its economy?

And why would a country with a peaceful nuclear program develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, whose sole purpose is to deliver nuclear warheads? You don’t build ICBMs to carry TNT thousands of miles away; you build them for one purpose, to carry nuclear warheads. And Iran is building now ICBMs that the United States says could reach this city in three or four years.

Why would they do all this? The answer is simple. Iran is not building a peaceful nuclear program; Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Last year alone, Iran enriched three tons of uranium to 3 1/2 percent, doubled it stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium and added thousands of new centrifuges, including advanced centrifuges. It also continued work on the heavy water reactor in Iraq; that’s in order to have another route to the bomb, a plutonium path. And since Rouhani’s election — and I stress this — this vast and feverish effort has continued unabated.

Ladies and gentlemen, underground nuclear facilities, heavy water reactors, advanced centrifuges, ICMBs. See, it’s not that it’s hard to find evidence that Iran has a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program; it’s hard to find evidence that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapons program.

Last year when I spoke here at the U.N. I drew a red line. Now, Iran has been very careful not to cross that line but Iran is positioning itself to race across that line in the future at a time of its choosing. Iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it.

Yet Iran faces one big problem, and that problem can be summed up in one word: sanctions. I have argued for many years, including on this podium, that the only way to peacefully prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat. And that policy today is bearing fruit. Thanks to the efforts of many countries, many represented here, and under the leadership of the United States, tough sanctions have taken a big bite off the Iranian economy.

Oil revenues have fallen. The currency has plummeted. Banks are hard-pressed to transfer money. So as a result, the regime is under intense pressure from the Iranian people to get the sanctions relieved or removed.

That’s why Rouhani got elected in the first place. That’s why he launched his charm offensive. He definitely wants to get the sanctions lifted; I guarantee you that. But he doesn’t want to give up Iranians’ nuclear — Iran’s nuclear weapons program in return.

Now here’s a strategy to achieve this. First, smile a lot. Smiling never hurts. Second, pay lip service to peace, democracy and tolerance. Third, offer meaningless concessions in exchange for lifting sanctions. And fourth, and the most important, ensure that Iran retains sufficient nuclear material and sufficient nuclear infrastructure to race to the bomb at a time it chooses to do so.

You know why Rouhani thinks he can get away with this? I mean, this is a ruse. It’s a ploy. Why does Rouhani think he — thinks he can get away with it? Because — because he’s gotten away with it before, because his strategy of talking a lot and doing little has worked for him in the past.

He even brags about this. Here’s what he said in his 2011 book about his time as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, and I quote: “While we were talking to the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in Isfahan.”

Now, for those of you who don’t know, the Isfahan facility is an indispensable part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. That’s where uranium ore called yellowcake is converted into an enrichable form. Rouhani boasted, and I quote, “By creating a calm environment — a calm environment — we were able to complete the work in Isfahan.” He fooled the world once. Now he thinks he can fool it again.

You see, Rouhani thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it too. And he has another reason to believe that he can get away with this. And that reason is called North Korea. Like Iran, North Korea also said its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes. Like Iran, North Korea also offered meaningless concessions and empty promises in return for sanctions relief.

In 2005 North Korea agreed to a deal that was celebrated the world over by many well-meaning people. Here’s what the New York Times editorial had to say about it, quote: “For years now, foreign policy insiders have pointed to North Korea as the ultimate nightmare, a closed, hostile and paranoid dictatorship with an aggressive nuclear weapons program. Very few could envision a successful outcome, and yet North Korea agreed in principle this week to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, return to the NPT, abide by the treaty’s safeguards and admit international inspectors.”

And finally, “diplomacy, it seems, does work after all. Ladies and gentlemen, a year later, North Korea exploded its first nuclear weapons device.”

Yet, as dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it pales in comparison to the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. A nuclear-armed Iran would have a choke hold on the world’s main energy supplies. It would trigger nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East, turning the most unstable part of the planet into a nuclear tinderbox. And for the first time in history, it would make the specter of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger. A nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East wouldn’t be another North Korea. It would be another 50 North Koreas.

Now, I know that some in the international community think I’m exaggerating this threat. Sure, they know that Iran’s regime leads these chants, “death to America, death to Israel,” that it pledges to wipe Israel off the map. But they think that this wild rhetoric is just bluster for domestic consumption. Have these people learned nothing from history? The last century has taught us that when a radical regime with global ambitions gets awesome power, sooner or later its appetite for aggression knows no bounds.

That’s the central lesson of the 20th century. And we cannot forget it. The world may have forgotten this lesson. The Jewish people have not.

Iran’s fanaticism is not bluster. It’s real. The fanatic regime must never be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I know that the world is weary of war. We in Israel, we know all too well the cost of war. But history has taught us that to prevent war tomorrow, we must be firm today.

And this raises the question, can diplomacy stop this threat? Well, the only diplomatic solution that would work is one that fully dismantles Iran’s nuclear weapons program and prevents it from having one in the future.

President Obama rightly said that Iran’s conciliatory words must be matched by transparent, verifiable and meaningful action. And to be meaningful, a diplomatic solution would require Iran to do four things. First, cease all uranium enrichment. This is called for by several Security Council resolutions. Second, remove from Iran’s territory the stockpiles of enriched uranium. Third, dismantle the infrastructure for nuclear breakout capability, including the underground facility at Qom and the advanced centrifuges in Natanz.

And, four, stop all work at the heavy water reactor in Iraq aimed at the production of plutonium. These steps would put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and eliminate its breakout capability.

There are those who would readily agreed to leave Iran with a residual capability to enrich uranium. I advise them to pay close attention to what Rouhani said in his speech to Iran’s supreme cultural revolution — Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council. This was published in 2005. I quote. This is what he said:

“A county that could enrich uranium to about 3.5 percent will also have the capability to enrich it to about 90 percent. Having fuel cycle capability virtually means that a country that possesses this capability is able to produce nuclear weapons.” Precisely. This is why Iran’s nuclear weapons program must be fully and verifiably dismantled. And this is why the pressure on Iran must continue.

So here is what the international community must do: First, keep up the sanctions. If Iran advances its nuclear weapons program during negotiations, strengthen the sanctions.

Second, don’t agree to a partial deal. A partial deal would lift international sanctions that have taken years to put in place in exchange for cosmetic concessions that will take only weeks for Iran to reverse.

Third, lift the sanctions only when Iran fully dismantles its nuclear weapons program. My friends, the international community has Iran on the ropes. If you want to knock out Iran’s nuclear weapons program peacefully, don’t let up the pressure. Keep it up.

We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed, but when it comes to Iran, the greater the pressure, the greater the chance. Three decades ago, President Ronald Reagan famously advised, “trust but verify.” When it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, here’s my advice: Distrust, dismantle and verify.

Ladies and gentlemen, Israel will never acquiesce to nuclear arms in the hands of a rogue regime that repeatedly promises to wipe us off the map. Against such a threat, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself.

I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. Yet, in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others.

The dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in our region have led many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy. And this affords us the opportunity to overcome the historic animosities and build new relationships, new friendships, new hopes.

Israel welcomes engagement with the wider Arab world. We hope that our common interests and common challenges will help us forge a more peaceful future. And Israel’s — continues to seek an historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors, one that ends our conflict once and for all. We want peace based on security and mutual recognition, in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state of Israel. I remain committed to achieving an historic reconciliation and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Now, I have no illusions about how difficult this will be to achieve. Twenty years ago, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians began. Six Israeli prime ministers, myself included, have not succeeded at achieving peace with the Palestinians. My predecessors were prepared to make painful concessions. So am I. But so far the Palestinian leaders haven’t been prepared to offer the painful concessions they must make in order to end the conflict.

For peace to be achieved, the Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish state, and Israel’s security needs must be met.

I am prepared to make an historic compromise for genuine and enduring peace, but I will never compromise on the security of my people and of my country, the one and only Jewish state.

Ladies and gentlemen, one cold day in the late 19th century, my grandfather Nathan and his younger brother Judah were standing in a railway station in the heart of Europe. They were seen by a group of anti-Semitic hoodlums who ran towards them waving clubs, screaming “Death to the Jews.”

My grandfather shouted to his younger brother to flee and save himself, and he then stood alone against the raging mob to slow it down. They beat him senseless, they left him for dead, and before he passed out, covered in his own blood, he said to himself “What a disgrace, what a disgrace. The descendants of the Macabees lie in the mud powerless to defend themselves.”

He promised himself then that if he lived, he would take his family to the Jewish homeland and help build a future for the Jewish people. I stand here today as Israel’s prime minister because my grandfather kept that promise.

And so many other Israelis have a similar story, a parent or a grandparent who fled every conceivable oppression and came to Israel to start a new life in our ancient homeland. Together we’ve transformed a bludgeoned Jewish people, left for dead, into a vibrant, thriving nation, a defending itself with the courage of modern Maccabees, developing limitless possibilities for the future.

In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.

(In Hebrew.)

Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again. (Applause.)

43 thoughts on “Bibi Does The UNGA”

  1. One delusion that Bibi vocalises is this:
    The dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in our region have led many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy.

    That is not the right reason for their wanting ‘peace’ with Israel. Bibi is deluded. If they fear Iran, and think Israel can be ‘used’ to attack Iran, it will not get rid of the real reason there is not peace. That the Arabs will always hate a Jewish state, for a number of reasons, which they need to address, not least their Islamic supremacist thinking that Israel is Palestine. It should be remembered, that Ahmedinejad may insist that Israel should be wiped off the map, but that belief is shared by the Arabs.

    Iran’s nuclear progress can be monitored here:

    Iran’s Nuclear Timetable

    http://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/articles-reports/irans-nuclear-timetable

    September 18, 2013

    Valerie Lincy and Gary Milhollin

    This table estimates how soon Iran could fuel a nuclear weapon. With its thousands of gas centrifuges, and its growing stockpile of enriched uranium, Iran now has the ability to make fuel for nuclear reactors or, by enriching the uranium further, for nuclear warheads. The data below, which is based on reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency, describe Iran’s uranium stockpile, its centrifuges, and the rate at which its nuclear capacity is growing.

    1. Bibi was being diplomatic. Of course, nations do not have permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. Even more critical than dismantling Iran’s nuclear program is dismantling its theocracy. Should Iran once again revert to a regime of secular Persian nationalists as under the Shah and prior, the threat to Israel is removed no matter what is in Iran’s arsenal.

  2. The transcript contains “It also continued work on the heavy water reactor in Iraq;” I think that “Iraq” is a typo for “Arak“.

  3. Another occurrence: “And, four, stop all work at the heavy water reactor in Iraq aimed at the production of plutonium.” Again, “Iraq” is a typo for “Arak“.

  4. Out of the mystical past of a biblical never-never land comes….(wait for it)…..Bibi Netanyahu? How did this guy get to be leader of a modern, secular state such as Israel? He uses made-up bible prophesies to form his foreign policy prescriptions? I prefer Stephen Sondheim’s revisionist fairy tale treatment from “Into the Woods” where witches can be right and giants can be good. Remember, Bibi, no one is alone.

        1. You were wondering how a guy who quotes a verse from the Torah got to be the leader of a secular modern state. I was pointing out that many of America’s leaders have also quoted the Bible. Are you wondering how they got to be leaders?

          Whether or not you believe in the stories is immaterial. The Jewish nation was founded on these stories and the Torah has been a vital instrument of Jewish survival over the millennia. It’s perfectly natural for the leader of the Jewish state to quote from it.

          1. My objection is not that Bibi believes the Bible. My concern is that he uses his belief system to form the basis for his foreign policy. I don’t see President Obama developing his Middle East policies based on the old Brear Rabbit stories, although they are just as authentic as any stories from the Bible.

            1. There is plenty of archeological evidence to prove that there was a Hebrew speaking people iiving in ancient Israel.

            2. Please read my comment here, which mentions the issue of Biblical veracity http://www.israellycool.com/2013/10/01/amused-to-death-the-american-jewish-demographic-bomb and then reread the Torah using a proper translation. I recommend JPS or the Everett Fox Schoken translation.

              While parts of the Torah may be loose compared to todays insistence on exact description, many parts are quite plausible. The Torahs problem is that it was written on parchment and not stone, so archaeologists and historians are biased against it, even when it is corroborated with stuff written on rocks. Every other nation has a historical record. Why cant we?

        2. The stories of the Torah don’t have to be believable, factual or historically accurate (though many are). Their significance and importance is much greater than that. They are not literally true; they are permanently true. You find the same stories over and over again in the daily newspapers and repeated in the encyclopedias and their online descendents. They speak directly to the ongoing conundrums of the human condition; and form the core of how we understand and interact with the world.

    1. Israel is a Jewish state, not a secular one. Real secular states have done nothing to aid Christians being mass murdered in Muslim countries. As for Bible stories, I find them more believable than the ayatollah’s sock puppet.

      1. Israel is a Jewish state in the same way an Olive Garden Restaraunt is an Italian restaraunt – in name only. Get back to me on that Jewish state thing, Norman, when the scientists at Technion reach their next technology breakthrough by reading the Torah.

        1. How is Bibi using the Torah to make decisions? How do you get that? From his speech what he pretty much meant when he quoted that Torah prophesy was that the Jewish people were back in their ancestral homeland and were there to stay. I don’t really see anything wrong with that. Perhaps he said something else and I missed it, but could you point out what these prophesies are? What are these prophesies you speak of that according to you were used by him to make political decisions

          1. I cannot know Prime Minister Netanyahu’s heart or mind; all I have are his words. In his speech he makes a direct connection between bible prophecies and Iran as an existential threat to Israel. I am not familiar with either the Bible or Torah well enough to know to what specific passages he might be referring. But any Methodist knows you can find anything you want as a justification for anything you want to do by examining the Bible, if you just look hard enough.

            1. So let me get this straight. Based on your self-described ignorance of the Torah or the Bible (and, apparently, history) you are still able to draw the the non-sequitur.
              ” In his speech he makes a direct connection between bible prophecies and Iran as an existential threat to Israel.” ?

              from this:
              “In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.”

              What about this part of the speech:
              “Today our hope for the future is challenged by a nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction. But I want you to know, that wasn’t always the case. Some 2,500 years ago the great Persian king Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. He issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the Jews to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. That’s a Persian decree. And thus began an historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times.

              But in 1979 a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hope for democracy, it always led wild chants of “death of the Jews.””

              The factual part?

              Or are you only interested in the parts you can distort to make the Iranians (directing Assad’s war with IRGC “advisers” and their proxy army of Hezbollah shock troops) appear other than genocidal Shi’a triumphalists, while you make Netanyahu out to be an aggressive sabre rattler?

              You must be the Methodist in the madness

            2. This is the only prophetic Torah portion mentioned by Netanyahu

              “In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.”

              How do YOU get a “a direct connection between bible prophecies and Iran as an existential threat to Israel”? from that Torah prophecy? How’ did you possibly interpret it that way, when really it’s obvious to anyone that he’s referring to the Jews who are finally in Eretz Yisrael. Maybe you’re referring to this

              “Today our hope for the future is challenged by a nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction. But I want you to know, that wasn’t always the case. Some 2,500 years ago the great Persian king Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. He issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the Jews to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. That’s a Persian decree. And thus began an historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times.

              But in 1979 a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hope for democracy, it always led wild chants of “death of the Jews.”

              That is Jeowsh history, not a fairy tale, not a prophecy he just mentioned actual historical events, where a ” historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times.

              But in 1979 a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hope for democracy, it always led wild chants of “death of the Jews.”

              Give me this alleged prophecy you speak of which Netanyahu used to make ” Iran as an existential threat to Israel” and “to form his foreign policy prescriptions” if you can’t provide one then don’t make baseless claims

              1. Why on Earth would he bring up the Bible if it is not contextually relevant to the point he was making before the U.N.’s General Assembly? I don’t try to interpret Bibi, I take him at his word.
                BTW, officially, how many angels can dance upon the head of a pin if, say, they were all doing the Charleston at the same time?

                1. Why would he bring up the Torah? Perhaps because that specific portion of the Torah which he mentioned speaks of how exiled Jews returned and will “never be uprooted again” that’s why. Is there something wrong with the notion that Jews will never be ethnically cleansed from their homeland again?

                2. Maybe because he wanted to shore up his nation’s strength for the coming battle with a maniacal ideology that invests every ounce of their energy to make weapons of annihilation?

                  Maybe because it is comforting to think that Torah Prophesy says that once Israel is finally re-established, it will never again be subject to the whims of destructive nations hell-bent on eradicating the memory of the Jewish People?

                  Maybe because these words – whether you think they are Divine Providence, nutty fairy tales, or merely self-fullfilling prophesies – are what kept this tiny nation alive against impossible odds?

                  I dunno. Take your pick.

              2. How do you get “Iran is a threat that must be terminated” from reading this

                “In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.”

                Like, how do you get that? You take him at his word? Well apparently not, because that “prophecy” obviously has nothing to do with Iran. The hell are you talking about

        2. Let’s see. For more than 2,000 years, learned people believed that the universe was eternal and scoffed at the notion of creation. Then scientists, one of them a refugee from Nazi Germany, discovered proof that the universe began with a big bang, in other words, “Let there be light.” These scientists were not from the Technion, but from Bell Labs. Likewise, learned people found it hard to accept the idea that the earth’s firmament divided the waters from the waters. Who ever heard of water in space? Then NASA sent its space probes and found that there is more water outside the earth’s atmosphere than within, even if it is in the form of ice. There is more water on Jupiter’s moon Europa than in the earth’s oceans, even if it is frozen. But the largest source of extraterrestrial water are the millions of comets that orbit the sun. Finally, archaeological findings tend to confirm the historical accounts of the Bible on which the Prophets based their pronouncements.

          1. Explain to me the reality of Noah’s Ark in modern technical language and I’ll begin to accept your enormous leap of logic, Norman.

            1. Dude, why are you doing this? First of all, you cannot debate the existence of God or anything like that because there is no easily verifiable factual evidence that God exists. Secondly you’re asking a Christian to explain something from Jewish texts. Why are you doing this? Just ignore it

            2. Ah, Jim. How fortunate you live in the blessed state of Iowa (BTW – are you planning to return it to the Iowa any time soon?); a realm never touched by natural, man made or man-enhanced disasters (tornadosfloodsdesertificationdustbowlglobalwarmingnuclearwinterrepublicans.)
              Jews (ie- those who Jew) constantly read and re-read the Torah and its commentaries and wrestle with its often troublesome and sometimes contradictory stories.
              Alongside the story of the Tower of Internet Babel (I’m starting to have trouble understanding what language you speak; your information bubble is too tightly sealed) is the story of Noah – probably cribbed from the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Epic of Atrahasis or possibly from even earlier Hindu sources.
              Has a lot of useful ideas about how to prepare (you attempt to preserve life; not things) and offers a thread to cling to when trying to cope with survivor guilt.
              Also, having thought about it over and over through the years, when you see such an event approaching you know to take action (from Noah’s example) and not dwell in denial – because that’s where the crocodiles are. Useful and convenient – dontcha think?.
              The story ends with the promise that if mankind observes the seven Noahide laws; humankind will not be destroyed again (by water – there’s always a catch.)
              Idolatry is forbidden. Man is commanded to believe in One God alone and not worship money, persons or tribal totems.

              Incestuous and adulterous relations are forbidden. Human beings are not sexual objects, nor is pleasure the ultimate goal of life.

              Murder is forbidden. The life of a human being, formed in God’s image, is sacred.

              Cursing the name of God is forbidden. Besides honoring and respecting the transcendent Oneness, we learn from this precept that our speech must be sanctified, especially our “storytelling” as this is the distinctive sign which separates humans from animals.

              Theft is forbidden. The world is not ours to do with as we please.

              Eating the flesh of a living animal is forbidden. This teaches us to be sensitive to cruelty to animals.

              Mankind is commanded to establish courts of justice and a just social order to enforce the first six laws and enact any other useful laws or customs.

              Given that multinational corporations under Citizens United are persons entitled to “free speech”, the Republican shutdown of the government so that the poor may exercise their right to be free from health insurance, and the perversion of Islam that holds that Allah is the exclusive god of the Persians or the Arabs (depending on which one you ask and no one else.)
              My weather forecast is for FIRE followed by three millennia of winter.
              But what do I know, I’m just another unemployed Jewish carpenter. Should I go on a speaking tour?

          2. The best current scientific explanation for the nature of the universe is “String Theory” an hypotheses no more testable that the existence or non-existence of God.
            Welcome to the conundrums of human existence, Jim al-Iowa. Death is certain, there is no escape. You may spend your time here either making your life and the lives of others here better – approaching heaven; or making them worse here – descending into hell. Your most reliable compass comes from one who was a teacher of Torah; and who unlike you, occupied himself with its study. He lived and wrote in Babylon and Jerusalem a century before Jesus of Nazareth (who was a disciple of the school Hillel founded) who said: “That which is hateful to you; do not practice on another That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” Which path are you on?

            Hillel also said: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”

            The “stories” of the Torah are the containers and generators of these ideas. Only a fool throws away the wine and obsesses over the wineskin.

            Jesus of Nazareth knew that. If he is the teacher you follow why don’t you try emulating that example (and stop behaving like a pseudo-learned troll) ? Nu?

              1. “All I know. . .” is not a good line of argument for you; since, as you said earlier, – you don’t know much.

                  1. Anyone who is a troll; could not (in reality) be my friend.
                    Anyone who thinks that epater les Juifs is a worthwhile way to spend one’s time and internet bandwidth is a troll.
                    So, does this mean you’re going to change your ways? I have very little patience for the willfully uninformed.
                    Please review these sites and get back to me on this thread
                    http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
                    http://www.camera.org/
                    http://www.memri.org/middle-east-media-research-institute.html

        1. I’ll believe that when the Chief Rabbinate loses its official legal standing. Meanwhile, the whole point of the peace process is to get the Arabs to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. If they do, negotiations will succeed. If not, the status quo will continue.

          1. Okay, Israel is a Jewish majority state with a Jewish character because we are a people. United by a culture and history but Israel is a secular democracy, check out the Knesset page and find out for yourself. Israel in no way is any sort of theocracy

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