The Annual State of the Jewish State Address

The following is my latest column in The Jewish Link of Bergen County, in which I examine the significance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s annual address to the United Nations General Assembly:

THE ANNUAL STATE OF THE JEWISH STATE ADDRESS

By: N. Aaron Troodler, Esq.

In what has become a highly anticipated annual event, each year, the United Nations General Assembly welcomes dignitaries from across the globe to the East Side of Manhattan for a confab of the world’s most powerful leaders.

The UN General Assembly means different things to different people. For many people, it symbolizes a week of frustration due to the incredible gridlock on the streets around the United Nations. Some people enjoy the opportunity to gawk at the dignitaries, with their large entourages and fancy motorcades, as they traverse the Manhattan streets. Other folks eagerly anticipate hearing some of the more extreme and sometimes incendiary speeches which are delivered by the dictators and tyrants that just cannot help themselves when they take to the podium with the world watching.

As for me, for the past several years, I have always looked forward to listening to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, make his annual address. I consider it to be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s annual “State of the Jewish State Address” to the world.

In addition, to appreciating his masterful command of the English language and its many colloquial nuances, I genuinely enjoy listening not only to what Prime Minister Netanyahu has to say, but also how he says it.

This year, in what marked a sharp deviation from his addresses to the UNGA in 2013 and 2012, the Prime Minister, although he discussed Iran, did not make it the centerpiece of his remarks.

To put it in perspective, Netanyahu uttered the word “Iran” (or variations thereof) 25 times in his 2014 address. By contrast, he mentioned “Iran” 68 times in his 2013 speech, at which time he famously referred to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and 55 times in his 2012 address, during which he unveiled the now famous “Bibi Bomb” graphic.

This year, in addition to a very timely Derek Jeter reference, Netanyahu spent a good deal of time discussing ISIS and the threat of militant Islam. Picking up on President Obama’s call to the nations of the world to form a coalition to combat ISIS, Prime Minister Netanyahu likened Hamas to ISIS and called for the world to “remove this cancer before it’s too late.”

“The fight against militant Islam is indivisible,” said Netanyahu. “When militant Islam succeeds anywhere, it’s emboldened everywhere. When it suffers a blow in one place, it’s set back in every place. That’s why Israel’s fight against Hamas is not just our fight. It’s your fight. Israel is fighting a fanaticism today that your countries may be forced to fight tomorrow.”

Looking back at Netanyahu’s UN addresses over the past several years, one of the common themes that he touches on annually is Israel’s desire to achieve peace.

In order to solve the conflict with the Palestinians, “[w]e have to sit together, negotiate together, and reach a mutual compromise, in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the one and only Jewish State,” declared Netanyahu in his 2012 address the UN General Assembly. “Israel wants to see a Middle East of progress and peace. We want to see the three great religions that sprang forth from our region – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – coexist in peace and in mutual respect.”

“Israel continues to seek an historic peace with our Palestinian neighbors, one that ends our conflict once and for all,” said Netanyahu in his 2013 speech to the UN. “We want a 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 conciliation and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

“For peace to be achieved, the Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish state and Israel’s security needs must be met,” continued Netanyahu. “I am prepared to make an historic compromise for a genuine and enduring peace. But I will never compromise on the security of my people and of my country of the one and only Jewish state.”

“In any peace agreement, which will obviously necessitate a territorial compromise, I will always insist that Israel be able to defend itself by itself against any threat,” Netanyahu stated in this years’ remarks to the UN. “Yet despite all that has happened, some still don’t take Israel’s security concerns seriously. But I do, and I always will. Because, as Prime Minister of Israel, I am entrusted with the awesome responsibility of ensuring the future of the Jewish people and the future of the Jewish state. And no matter what pressure is brought to bear, I will never waver in fulfilling that responsibility. I believe that with a fresh approach from our neighbors, we can advance peace despite the difficulties we face.”

Yes, Hamas and militant Islam pose a grave threat to the State of Israel and to the world. And we are all well aware of the great dangers associated with a nuclear-armed Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu always goes to great lengths to illustrate these frightening facts to the world in his UN addresses, and rightfully so.

But Netanyahu also does what he can to ensure that the international community comprehends that Israel is interested in peace. Despite the perception of many that Israel is somehow the impediment to peace, the reality is that Israel wants nothing more than to live in peace and to see an end to the fighting.

As Netanyahu has repeatedly pointed out, a demilitarized Palestinian state and Palestinian recognition and acceptance of Israel as a Jewish State are fundamental prerequisites to peace. These are certainly not unreasonable requests on the part of Netanyahu. If the Palestinians truly want peace, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it explicitly clear how that can be achieved. If Mahmoud Abbas would simply listen to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s annual “State of the Jewish State Address” at the UN instead of repeatedly advocating for unilateral steps to achieve statehood, he would realize that the roadmap to peace has been handed to him on a silver platter.

N. Aaron Troodler is an attorney and principal of Paul Revere Public Relations, a public relations and political consulting firm. Visit him on the Web at TroodlersTake.blogspot.com, www.PaulReverePR.com, or www.JewishWorldPR.com. You can also follow him on Twitter: @troodler