The following address was said at the Knesset following
the return of HaRav AY. Shapira z'l to serve as a MK
after being hospitalized. The topic of the speech was peace
with Jordan and it was delivered in Av, 5754
My dear chairman, honorable Knesset members: before I begin
speaking I want to express my gratitude to HaKodosh Boruch
Hu, Who made it possible for me to return here, and I
wish to thank all the ministers and Knesset members who
visited me in hospital and wished me a speedy recovery. I
hope, with Hashem's help, that from now on I will be able to
continue to serve my community and the gedolei Torah.
For their sake I am sitting here and by their zechus I
was given the privilege to return here.
I want to speak a little about peace with Jordan. We, the
United Torah Jewry party, enthusiastically support this
peace. We feel it is peace for peace's sake and not a peace
whose aim is to destroy us. It is not a peace with Arafat,
who even now had not stopped for one moment demanding a
Palestinian state and who wants Yerushalayim as its capital.
Although the Foreign Minister constantly declares that Arafat
is talking nonsense, unfortunately we are well acquainted
with Arafat. He is not speaking nonsense; this is exactly
what he intends. On the other hand, despite the fact of our
having waged bloody wars against Jordan, we are happily
accepting any peace arrangement with them. Not only we, but
almost the whole Knesset wants peace with them.
The government must learn from this. I am saying to the Prime
Minister that he should realize how worthwhile it is to reach
a broad national consensus. The Jewish Nation is one nation
and not half a nation. The Jewish Nation has always stood
together as one nation. When it stands as one it always
succeeds. Instead of, cholila, using violent figures
of speech, such as calling each other hoodlums and traitors,
with a broad national consensus we can accomplish much
more.
We must be extremely careful. As a result of our satisfaction
over establishing peace [with Jordan] an air line between
Aqaba and Eilat will open and tourists will arrive from
Egypt. Eilat should not be turned into a Los Vegas; no casino
should be set up in Eilat. We should not be mechalel
Shabbos in order to develop tourism. People traveling
back and forth can, cholila, fall into
intermarriage.
We must remember that our goal is to be "a light for the
nations" and not to "be like all the nations." Intermarriage
must not increase and the darkness of the nations must not
enwrap Eilat.
We see that this time the Prime Minister called every party
and spoke with its leaders. This is the way that brings
results. Not everyone is delighted with this peace, and about
certain points there are misgivings. We, the UTJ, have
expressed our reservations and have told the Prime Minister
that we should not talk about the status of the Temple Mount,
which is Mt. Moriah. This is the most sacred place of them
all for the Jewish Nation. Although we honor Hussein, we
cannot offer him any standing concerning the Temple Mount.
The Prime Minister said, and I believe him, that the
government's promise concerns only the places that are
important for Islam and not our sacred places. Furthermore,
he emphasized, we are not talking about a special standing
but only about free access to these place, since Yerushalayim
will always remain our city until the Moshiach comes.
I want to request that the government ask Arafat to stop his
futile declarations. I esteem all of the efforts being made
by the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister. Both of them
have a great part in the progress towards peace. But
everything depends upon whom we are making peace with. Making
"peace" with Arafat is simply putting us in mortal danger.
The PLO has never stopped killing Jews. About Hussein we are
sure that he currently intends to make peace and not war.
Instead of engaging in internal strife, it is preferable for
us to unite and tell Arafat unequivocally that if he does not
stop voicing his nonsense right now, we will not make any
peace agreement with him.
@Big Let Body=I also want to ask the government to stop the
war over digging up graves. Yesterday a protest demonstration
was made by fifteen thousand Jews. People should realize that
tens of thousands of Jews will not allow Jewish graves to be
dug up, just as throughout the world we protest when a Jewish
graveyard is touched.
We are not waging a war against archaeology. Everyone knows
that the archaeologists are doing important work. Our
campaign is against their digging up Jewish graves. At this
opportunity I want to thank the current leader for stopping
the diggings. He understood that it is necessary to wait a
week and hear the opinion of the Chief Rabbinate. We must
realize that it is impossible to ignore tens of thousands of
Jews. We will not allow damage to Jewish graves.
We will insure that this peace does not bring any
tumah, will not cause intermarriage, and will not
bring darkness upon Eilat. The opposite should happen.
Precisely now, when in the golus grave problems of
terrorism exist, we should bring many Jews here and provide
them with a traditional Jewish education. At this opportunity
I want to address the Education Minister. I heard that the
general educational system has decreased its quota of
religious studies.
I want to say that this nation has nothing more important
than religious studies. Without them we become like all the
other nations. If in Israel everyone is given a religious
education, then a lawyer will not be killed in the middle of
the night by a thief. This lawlessness, this permissiveness,
is a result of defective education. We need to unite, and I
turn to both parts of the public represented in the Knesset:
instead of verbal violence, instead of cursing, it is
preferable to unite for peace and for the sake of the Jewish
Nation.
Amen.
