By Chaim Meir haLevi

Ladies and Gentlemen, my friends and members of this august Knesset, I come to deliver a message we all know in our hearts but must grasp firmly in our minds and, by so doing, renew our resolution as a Nation and a People. Our Land is our precious home and it contains treasures greater than the finest chinaware and yet we have a raging bull within our walls that roams and destroys at will. The name of this bull is nicknamed Terror when it occasionally wreaks havoc, but its real name is War. The damage of this bull is merely a preparation for the pack of wolves beyond our borders that wish to claim our home and destroy its inhabitants. The howls of the wolves are heard day and night, without respite. I say to you my colleagues, we are living in a time of war and we must gird our loins, gather our courage, renew our faith in the Almighty and prepare to fight until we defeat our enemies. I say we can any longer permit the current situation to continue. We can not pretend that we! do not see or hear the enemies within and without. Children of Israel, we must all awaken from our slumber

We have elected in General Sharon a new Prime Minister. Undoubtedly our nation owes him a great debt for his courage in war and his strong convictions throughout the short history of our modern nation's struggle. One might have thought that his election was a sign that, at long last, the nation had awakened. Yet, what do we see? A man whose greatness could have made him a Churchill has chosen not to repudiate the appeasement policies of his predecessor but has embraced them. Our potential Churchill has chosen to put Chamberlain in the very forefront of his government. By so doing, he has spit in the face of all those who gave him a resounding mandate at election time. The current unity government is a shameful alliance and I say, it shall not bring us peace but only embolden our enemies.

Let us state openly our goals and our aims. We are here to reclaim our rightful inheritance to our Land. Not just a parcel here or there, but our rightful, entire inheritance. Not an inch of the Land of Israel may be sold, traded or given away. We are merely stewards of this great and Holy Land given to us by the Owner of all Land and we dare not give away the Land He has put in our charge. Let the nations howl like a pack of wolves. For nearly a century, the world in general and the Germans and now the Arabs have slaughtered our wives, our children, our parents and our grandparents. Hear this, howling Arab or Islamic nations and hear this you nations that stood by silently during our slaughter-- not only in this century but also for two millennia. You have pulled the tail of the lion too long. The Lion of Judah is aroused. He roars and his enemies must soon tremble. G-d is not mocked. He shall no longer permit His Children to be lambs for the slaughter. He shall no longer allow His Name to be profaned.

Our first course of action is simple and long overdue. An owner must claim his ownership. Every inch of the Land of Israel must be openly and officially under the sovereignty of People of Israel through the State of Israel. We must make clear to all that every street, every alleyway, every nook and cranny of Jerusalem, Our Eternal Capital is forever ours and is indivisible and not even the humblest cottage shall be alienated from Israeli sovereignty within the capital. Furthermore, the disgrace that our Holy Temple Mount is not under our sole legitimate authority is inconceivable and is no longer tenable. All peaceful Muslims may come there to pray and express their religious devotion without harassment or interference, but they shall be expected to ask as gracious guests on our Holy Temple Mount, which is the very center point of our sovereignty. As to the rest of the Land, let the brave pioneers in the Golan, in all of Judea and Samaria and Gaza know that they shall always ! live under the great Star of David, now and forever.

As for our Arab cousins living in the Land, I say stay and live with us in peace. Be proud to live the Holy Land of Israel and to be privileged to live out your days in peaceful occupation and prayer here. You shall be entitled to all the economic and civil protections required by a decent society and demanded by Jewish Law. If, however you harbor ill-will toward our State or our People or if you wish to change the Jewish character of our Land or if you should, G-d forbid, do violence to our citizens, your privilege in the Land shall be revoked and you shall be expelled from the Land forthwith. As to our neighbor nations, we wish to live in peace. This is a peace of dignity and honor for all. We shall not try to appease you by giving away our birthright or endangering our security. Know this, any aggression you plan against us shall be met with a fury unmatched in the annals of human history. Not a man among you shall survive it, not a house shall stand, nor shall even the ! humblest tree remain rooted to the soil. We have learned a lesson. Any land you lose, you shall lose for all time. Your land shall become an integral part of our land and no inch shall ever be bargained away. Wherever a Jewish soldier is sent shall become the State of Israel and wherever any Jewish blood is spilled a great Jewish city shall arise on that hallowed ground. Be still and listen Damascus, Amman, Cairo, Tehran or any other would be destroyer of our nation. If you wish it, you shall find no greater neighbor nor ally than us. In name of our One G-d and for the sake of our children accept Peace and the mutual prosperity and abundance we can share as the final goal for Peace. Make Peace itself the reward for accepting our inalienable rights. Do not, G-d forbid, thrust away our olive branch and bring Destruction upon yourselves. Give up your dreams of our demise. Give up your desire to be martyrs by spilling Jewish blood because we shall then be obliged to fulfill your wishes and bring the death you! desire not only upon the fanatics that perform these dastardly acts but upon whole nations.

I know many of my friends in this Knesset and those who have lost their courage among our own people will ask, "What shall the nations say?" In the end, they shall say "The Lion of Judah has awaken, roared and restored dignity not only to Israel but to all those fighting for a civilized world against barbarism, terrors, horrific dictators that have brought untold suffering to millions throughout the ages." In the end, the civilized world shall feel vindicated and take pride in our victory. Those nations who have never stood by us will continue to carp from the sidelines. What about our dear ally and that great republic and depository of freedom, the United States? What shall it do? Will it back us or will it threaten us in order to curry favor with the oil producing nations? The answer is that nobody knows and it shall be a true test of the soul of that great nation. We would welcome their material and moral support, but we must not forget that our very existence to this very ! day is a miracle of history. In the very founding of the modern Jewish state, we were outgunned, outmanned and alone. We must put our faith in the Eternal Covenant from G-d Himself and believe that He shall not leave us bereft in our hour of need. We must return to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and know that He will then remain firm by our sides and like Joshua in times past, He shall make the sun stand still if need be until our victory is secured. To win, we must stand together, religious and secular Jew, and just arouse our simplest innate faith in the Almighty and know that we shall endure and flourish. If we can listen just beyond the howling wolves and if we are very quiet still within ourselves, we might even hear the faint shofar that shall grow louder as we reach our final goal, Redemption for our People here in the Land of Israel. Listen closely enough and you shall hear the joy and laughter of the entire world. I take my seat now and pray that my words have touched some, if only a few, of t! he precious souls of our people and righteous among all the nations.