One theme repeated at a special Knesset session on Thursday - in the speech of US President George Bush, as well as those of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and others - was the rejection of appeasement and negotiations with terrorists. At the same time, Bush praised Israel's concessions for peace and envisioned a Palestinian Authority state.
"You won't ever see that happen," MK Hendel shouted towards Olmert as the two right-wing MKs left the plenum.

"No nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction," President Bush told the Knesset.  He adding that "we stand together against terror and extremism, and we will never let down our guard or lose our resolve...  The founding charter of Hamas calls for the elimination of Israel [and] the President of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map."

Bush then decried negotiations with "terrorists and radicals" as "the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

On the other hand, in his speech, Prime Minister Olmert said that the visit to Israel by the US President "provided another important opportunity for us to discuss the advancement of a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in accordance with your vision, Mr. President, of two states for two peoples. Your personal involvement, and the commendable efforts of the Secretary of State, Ms. Condoleezza Rice, is vital for the success of the intensive negotiations taking place between us and the Palestinians."

Knesset Members Tzvi Hendel and Uri Ariel (National Union) got up in the midst of Olmert's speech and left the Knesset hall in protest.  Olmert had just said that he would have the Knesset approve an agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) for a two-state solution. "You won't ever see that happen," MK Hendel shouted towards Olmert as the two right-wing MKs left the plenum.

President Bush also reinforced the idea of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel when he detailed his vision for the Middle East 60 years from now: "Israel will be celebrating the 120th anniversary as one of the world's great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved - a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror."

Fatah and the PA: Not Terrorists?
In response to the speech by President Bush, Dr. Aryeh Bachrach suggested that the US President take over his position as the spokesman for Almagor, an organization for victims of terrorism.

In a letter to the American leader, Bachrach wrote: "In your forceful declarations against being 'tolerant of terrorism' and 'not to allow its perpetrators diplomatic achievements' you were giving us a voice. With one mistake - that you did not count among the terrorist groups Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, which were and are terrorist organizations that just recently gave assistance and protection to their members to murder Israelis in various circumstances."

Along similar lines, the National President of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, wrote of Fatah head and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that he is behind the "continuing promotion of terrorism, refusal to arrest terrorists, and incitement to hatred and violence within the PA-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps."

"Here is a clear, straightforward litmus test: Does Mahmoud Abbas support preventing terrorism and jailing terrorists? Is he opposed to terrorism? Does he regard terrorism as the enemy of the peace, to which he tells Western audiences he is dedicated? If so, he should be applauding and honoring Imad Sa'ad for doing his duty in fighting terror and assisting the Israelis in doing so, as per the PA's signed obligations under Oslo and the Roadmap. At the very least, he should be immediately releasing Imad Sa'ad from prison. In reality, he has done the opposite...." Only the intervention of Israeli groups prevented Sa'ad from being executed by the PA. 

Klein concludes, "There is no sense or morality in having peace negotiations with someone who arrests or executes those who help fight terrorists."

As for the Fatah's being "killers pledged to [Israel's] destruction," thus placing them outside the realm of negotiations according to the Bush vision he articulated on Thursday, it is worthwhile recalling some earlier statements by PLO and Fatah officials. 

"The Palestinian people accepted the Oslo agreements as a first step and not as a permanent arrangement,
"A legitimate Palestinian entity forms the most important weapon that Arabs have against Israel." - from the official Fatah website
based on the premise that the war and struggle on the ground [i.e., locally against Israeli territory] is more efficient than a struggle from a distant land... for the Palestinian people will continue the revolution until they achieve the goals of the '65 revolution..." (Palestinian Authority Minister of Supply Abd El-Aziz Shahian quoted in Al-Ayaam newspaper, May 30, 2000.)  [The "'65 Revolution" marks the first attack by the PLO, a year after its founding and prior to Israel's conquest of Judea, Samaria and Gaza in 1967, and the publication of the Palestinian Covenant that calls for the destruction of Israel via armed struggle. - ed.]

"When we picked up the gun in '65 and the modern Palestinian Revolution began, it had a goal. This goal has not changed and it is the liberation of Palestine." (Salim Alwadia, Abu Salem, Supervisor of Political Affairs, quoted in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, January 20, 2000.)

The official website of the Fatah terrorist organization bluntly stated, "a legitimate Palestinian entity forms the most important weapon that Arabs have against Israel, the outpost of the imperialist powers." The statement was part of a January 1, 2002 manifesto marking the 37th anniversary of the founding of Fatah.

Pointedly emphasizing that the Fatah was founded in the late 1950s and carried out its first terrorist attack on Israel in 1965, the celebratory article states, "Fateh believes that the Zionist movement constitutes the biggest threat against not only the Palestinian national security but also against the security of the Arab world." Fatah recommends eliminating the threat through a combination of "the popular armed revolution" and other forms of the "revolution" at the "organizational, military, political, and diplomatic levels. The complementary nature of the different forms of revolution guarantees the continuity of the struggle until victory is achieved."

Residents of Ashkelon expressed gratitude to G-d on Thursday following a near-fatal rocket attack on a local medical clinic. “It’s a miracle, simply a miracle,” that no one was killed, the mother of a man wounded in the attack said.

At the same time, those wounded in the attack expressed anger at the government that failed to prevent the attack. “The Prime Minister should live in fear. Why should we have to live in fear?” one victim asked.

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Can't see video player? Click here.

In the above video, Arutz Sheva visits the medical clinic shortly after the attack, and those who were present recount the moment the rocket hit.

A day after Jews plant a stake in ex-IDF Shdemah base, MK Meir Porush initiates a petition against the building of an Arab neighborhood there.

"The establishment of a Palestinian neighborhood so close to our homes is liable to cause a security danger," Porush understated, "and the government's support of this senseless plan is totally irresponsible."

The IDF abruptly abandoned the area in question - its Shdemah base, just south of Jerusalem - some two years ago.  Jews living in nearby Gush Etzion later learned of the plan to give it over to Palestinian Authority control for the construction of a new Arab town or neighborhood. The government initially denied this, but an official Knesset query by MK Uri Ariel (National Union) ultimately elicited a confirmation from Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai (Labor) that a new Arab town was definitely being considered for the site.

In fact, eyewitnesses have noticed surveyors' markings at Shdemah for the beginning of a new Arab town.

Porush plans to begin collecting signatures from residents of Har Homa, the nearest Jerusalem neighborhood to Shdemah, on his petition against the new Arab town.

Keeping it Jewish
At the same time as MK Porush engages in the "depart from evil" approach in order to prevent the place from becoming Arab, activists are trying to "do good" (Psalms 34,15) and make the site Jewish once again. 

On Thursday, a group of 150 activists made their way to Shdemah, detouring and evading army blockades, and began initial activities preparing it for Jewish residence.  They painted and cleaned up the three remaining structures, hung Israeli flags, and erected a large Magen David (Jewish star).  Large army forces began to deploy at the site, however, and the pioneers began to prepare to be evicted.

But then, activist Nadia Matar of Women in Green told Arutz-7, "something strange happened.  A mob of Arabs began gathering down below, holding Palestinian flags and chanting slogans - and the army was forced to deal with them.  While the soldiers were dispersing the Arabs and making sure they would not endanger either us or them [the soldiers], we were able to continue working here and preparing the site for Jews to move in."

Finally, around 2:30 PM, the soldiers were able to turn their attention to the Jews.  "Remarkably," Matar said, "there was no violence - maybe because of all the media that was here.  They simply carried us down, one at a time, out of Shdemah."

Return on Friday
On Friday morning, a busload of Land of Israel pioneers returned to the site. "This time," Matar said, "there was just one jeep standing guard. It would not let us pass, so we got out and walked up by foot, and are continuing our work.  We're not planning to stay for the Sabbath this time, but I can tell you that we have activities planned for next week, and we hope to soon organize the families that wish to move in."

One of the pioneers, an expert in the geography and history of the area, pointed out a building in nearby Bethlehem in which former MK Geulah Cohen was imprisoned by the British for her pre-State, pro-Jewish activities. The man said that Geulah's mother used to frequent nearby Kever Rachel (Rachel's Tomb), also in eyeshot, to pray for her daughter who was jailed so close, yet so far.

Shdemah Under Israeli Control
Shdemah is in what the Oslo Accords have designated Area C - under total Israeli control, as opposed to other areas that are under partial or total Palestinian Authority control.  For this reason, the government's apparent plans to turn it into an Arab neighborhood are even more puzzling to Land of Israel supporters.  Some reports are that the Arab presence will begin as a medical center complex.

"I assume they won't officially give it over to the PA," MK Porush told Arutz-7, "but somehow it will become Arab. This is why we need a large public protest."

The Security Dangers
"Amidst all the concessions and gestures that Israel continues to make to the PA," Porush said, "including the removal of anti-terrorism checkpoints, bringing of hundreds of armed PA policemen into sensitive areas in Judea and Samaria, allowing huge amounts of weapons and the like into the PA, this agreement to turn the Shdemah base into an Arab town sets a new level of abandonment of Israel's basic security perceptions."

The Shdemah base overlooks the recently-opened highway leading from eastern Gush Etzion to Jerusalem.  Gush Etzion residents say that the road is the only alternative to the Tunnels Highway, which is closed all-too-often because of security alerts and the like.

Porush was Deputy Housing Minister, with the authorities of Housing Minister, in 1996-99, when Har Homa was built.  "G-d granted me a great privilege in having overseen the construction of Har Homa," he said. "Then, too, there was great opposition from the left, claiming that it would cause a rift with the United States - but this was proven untrue. Similarly, we must continue with determination to oppose the building of a Palestinian neighborhood in nearby Shdemah, so close to Har Homa."

Jordanian University lecturer Ibrahim Alloush recommended on Al-Jazeera television this week that suicide bombers be equipped with small nuclear bombs.

According to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Dr. Alloush said, "Whoever managed to get a martyrdom-seeker into Dimona, should consider how to get martyrdom-seekers into Dimona and elsewhere armed with non-conventional explosives - and perhaps even small nuclear bombs," he stated. "We should think in this direction."

Alloush lived for 13 years in the United States, earning graduate degrees at Ohio University and Oklahoma State University, where he earned a doctorate in economics.

As the editor of the "Free Arab Voice", he was jailed by the Jordanian government in 2003 for incitement, after publishing an article saying there were American bases in Jordan "taking part in the aggression against Iraq."

Holocaust Denier, Al-Qaeda Supporter
Alloush also maintains that the Holocaust never took place. In 2005, Alloush said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television quoted by MEMRI, "The Holocaust is exploited to justify the Zionist policies and to justify the enemy state's right to exist. There is evidence and scientific research proving that the Holocaust is a lie."

The Jordanian professor also strongly supports Osama bin Laden's international al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

'America Got What it Deserved on 9/11'
Moreover, Alloush, said in the same 2005 interview that the US deserved the al-Qaeda attack on Washington and the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

"America brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself. Okay? This is a case of the chicken coming home to roost. In other words, you have brought this problem upon yourselves," he said. "As long as America occupies the Arab homeland and the Islamic world militarily, politically, economically, and culturally, and as long as it supports the Zionist entity, it should expect something."

An Asia Times article, explaining why Israel is the "world's happiest country," cites statistics showing that Israel leads the world in the national gap between fertility and suicide rates.

The author, identified only as Spengler, compiled and compared the fertility rates and suicide rates of 35 industrial countries, and found that Israelis "appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation." 

Spengler explained that he compared "the proportion of people who choose to create new life, against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. Israel stands alone, positioned in the upper-left-hand-quadrant, or life-loving, portion of the chart."

Israel's fertility rate (births per woman) is 2.77, according to Spengler, while its suicide rate is 6.2 per 100,000 people.  In the U.S., however, the numbers are only 2.1 and 11, respectively, and in France they are 1.98 and 18.  The gaps in the numbers of many of the other countries are on the chart are even wider.

"It's easy for the Jews to talk about delighting in life," Spengler wrote in another Asia Times article, because "they are quite sure that they are eternal, while other peoples tremble at the prospect impending extinction. It is not their individual lives that the Jews find so pleasant, but rather the notion of a covenantal life that proceeds uninterrupted through the generations."

"Israel is surrounded by neighbors willing to kill themselves in order to destroy it,"  Spengler writes. He notes that Muslims teach, "As much as you love life, we love death" - a formula found in a Palestinian Authority textbook for second graders as well.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia ranks 171st on an international quality of life index, Spengler writes, while "Israel is tied with Singapore on this index, although it should be observed that Israel ranks a runaway first on my life-preference index, whereas Singapore comes in dead last."

Spengler suggests traditional Jewish faith in G-d as the reason for Jewish joy.  Muslim faith, however, is of the type that encourages a form of fatalism, he feels: "Arabs did not invent suicide attacks, but they have produced a population pool willing to die in order to inflict damage greater than any in history. One cannot help but conclude that Muslim clerics do not exaggerate when they express contempt for life."

In reaction to the speeches of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George Bush at a special Knesset session on Thursday, Knesset Members from right-wing and religious parties had far more praise for the US President than for the Prime Minister.

Minister of Communications Ariel Atias (Shas) declared Bush's speech to be more "right-wing" than that of Olmert. The American premier "emphasized God's name several times, as well as God's giving of the Land of Israel to the People of Israel," Atias noted.

Chairman of the Likud faction in Knesset, MK Gideon Saar, said, "Bush's speech was important because it clarified the damage and the errors of the policy of concessions, especially when he referred to the right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel. I would like to hear Israel's leaders speaking more often in those terms."

MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said, "In contrast to the Prime Minister, who is ready to concede in the blink of an eye the vital interests of Israel for various reasons, the US President appears as someone fulfilling the Zionist dream and as someone unwilling to concede a single Zionist principle."

In a joint statement, Knesset Members Tzvi Hendel and Uri Ariel (National Union), who got up and left the Knesset hall in the midst of Prime Minister Olmert's
"Perhaps it would be possible to suggest that Bush serve as a temporary replacement for Olmert." -- MK Eldad
speech, said, "The Prime Minister is using a celebratory occasion in which we are honoring the President of the United States to emphasize disputes in our society and to promote a political agenda which most of the Israeli public disagrees with."

MK Hendel added that it would be best if Olmert would learn national pride and Zionism from President Bush.

MK Arieh Eldad even suggested that, "since Olmert will soon be ending his term and in light of Bush's Zionist speech, perhaps it would be possible to suggest that Bush serve as a temporary replacement for Olmert."

More seriously, MK Eldad commented that in his speech, Prime Minster Olmert "continued behaving like a bankrupt criminal, signing bad checks, while President Bush publicly put him to shame when he said that there is no need to make concessions to terrorism and to negotiate with organizations that declare their intention to destroy Israel."

Chairman of the National Religious Party (NRP), MK Zevulun Orlev, said that "Bush taught Olmert a lesson in Zionism and leadership. His speech was that of an NRP member and his unconditional support for Israel is moving. I hope that he will act to free [Jonathan] Pollard towards the end of his term."

In a speech before the Knesset on Thursday afternoon, US President George W. Bush spoke of a deep US-Israel alliance, praised the Jewish people, and presented his vision of the future Middle East.

In their speeches to the plenum and to President Bush, opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud)
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik focused on the Palestinian Authority Katyusha attack in Ashkelon on the day of the President's arrival here.
emphasized the Iranian threat and the Jewish people's rights to Jerusalem, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert repeatedly praised Bush and his vision for Israel-PA negotiations. Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik focused on the Palestinian Authority Katyusha attack in Ashkelon on the day of the President's arrival here.

Itzik began her brief comments by addressing the rocket attack, which injured dozens of people in a shopping center:

"I very much wanted to open this celebratory, important and moving occasion with words of blessing, but since last night I cannot get the pictures of the destruction and devastation in the Ashkelon mall out of my mind. Since last night, I can't stop thinking about the young mother and her baby daughter going to the medical clinic and, in a split-second flash of fire, smoke and debris dust, their lives are changed. Dreams and life aspirations, studies and making a living - cut short suddenly by a deadly rocket fired by Hamas from Gaza that explodes in Ashkelon."

She then directly addressed the US President and said, "Sir, this is not a unique event. This is the reality of our lives in recent years. But that reality will change, because there is a limit to our mercy and tolerance for Hamas. We will respond, and we will respond with a heavy hand."

PM Olmert: 'America's Greatest Gift' is Support for Negotiations
After select words of greeting for "the president of a great nation, the leader of the Free World," and "a true, steadfast and loyal friend of the State of Israel," Prime Minister Olmert dedicated much of the beginning of his speech praising the "deep-rooted friendship between the United States and Israel."

He recounted that America demanded that the gates of the Land of Israel be opened to Holocaust survivors even before the State of Israel was proclaimed; that the US was the first country to recognize the Jewish State; that America helped financially when Israel "took upon itself the challenge of absorbing hundreds of thousands of destitute Jewish refugees from Europe and Arab states"; that the US armed Israel against Soviet-supplied enemies; that the US pressured Russia to free Soviet Jews; and that "it was American President George Bush Sr. who acted to bring to Israel the masses of Ethiopian Jews in the operation later known as Operation Moses." Olmert also noted America's stance in Israel's defense in international forums such as the United Nations.

"However, today I can proudly say that the relations are no longer based merely on dependence, but rather on cooperation and mutual benefit," the Prime Minister said. "In the fields of trade, technology, research and development there is a true partnership between our countries, a partnership founded on economic considerations, but also on shared values and a world view which attributes great value to the Israeli entrepreneurship and ingenuity."

Further excerpts of the Prime Minister's speech to the Knesset on the occasion of President Bush's visit follow:

"This visit provided another important opportunity for us to discuss the advancement of a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in accordance with your vision, Mr. President, of two states for two peoples. Your personal involvement, and the commendable efforts of the Secretary of State, Ms. Condoleezza Rice, is vital for the success of the intensive negotiations taking place between us and the Palestinians."

"...There is not the slightest shadow of doubt that confronting the murderous, fundamentalist threat of terror, which is devoid of any moral inhibitions, is the most important challenge currently facing democratic societies across the globe. ...The outcome of this confrontation will have far-reaching repercussions on the future and way of life of the Free World. You, Mr. President, will be remembered as the one who courageously, and without hesitation, took the reigns of leadership and stood firmly and determinedly against this formidable challenge.

"The most severe source of threat currently to the stability of the Middle East and to world peace is, as you know, Iran. The danger lies in the pretentious ambition of the regime in Tehran to achieve regional hegemony, its cynical use of terror and religious hatred to further its aims, and its obvious pursuit of nuclear capabilities. The Iranian President's threats to wipe Israel off the map, and the preparations he makes to carry this out through long-range missiles and nuclear capabilities, compel us to be ready to defend ourselves. But the threat is not aimed at Israel alone, and the majority of countries in the region also see themselves threatened."

"...On its 60th anniversary, Israel has no stronger desire than to achieve peace with its Palestinian neighbors and other Arab states. Your continued support of the effort to achieve peace and security in our region is America's greatest gift to the State of Israel on its 60th anniversary."

Two Right-Wing MKs , Arab MKs Absent Themselves
In the midst of Prime Minister Olmert's speech, MKs Tzvi Hendel and Uri Ariel (National Union) left the Knesset hall in protest over Olmert's promise that the Knesset would approve an agreement for a Palestinian state. "The Prime Minister is using a celebratory occasion in which we are honoring the President of the United States to emphasize disputes in our society and to promote a political agenda which most of the Israeli public disagrees with," MKs Hendel and Ariel said afterwards in a joint statement.

MK Hendel added that it would be best if Olmert would learn national pride and Zionism from President Bush.

MKs from the Arab parties in Knesset made themselves absent ahead of the special parliamentary session in Bush's honor. According to MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List), "Bush is a dangerous leader and is not worthy of the mantle of Israel's new prophet, as has been presented in recent days."

MK Netanyahu Describes Israel's Three Tasks
Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke just before the US President. He began by summarizing his main themes in English for President Bush and the American delegation.

The following are excerpts of MK Netanyahu's speech:

"Our primary task is to prevent Iran, which declares its intention to exterminate us, from obtaining nuclear arms. More than twelve years ago, in a speech I made as Prime Minister before both Houses of Congress, I said that the greatest threat facing humanity is the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons. Time is running out.

"The second task is to prevent Iran from establishing additional bases around us, such as in Lebanon and Gaza. The unilateral withdrawals just created those terrorist bases, delayed peace and encouraged terrorism. That is what is we see before our very eyes every day with the rocket fire on Sderot, Ashkelon and the communities of the western Negev. This must stop. Faced with terrorism, Israel must change from a policy of attrition to a policy of victory, just as you yourself did, Mr. President.

"And the third task is to bring peace to our region. The State of Israel has been working towards peace since its establishment. Peace will come when the nations themselves see it as a basic human need that allows them to improve their lives. Therefore, we must promote an economic peace today with our Palestinian neighbors. In this way, we will strengthen the moderates and weaken the extremists."

"...Even in a permanent agreement, Israel must maintain defensible borders, because only a peace that can be defended will be able to exist in the long term.

"And we will have to maintain something else. It is not simply a matter of secure borders or territory, rather it constitutes an indivisible part of the basis of our existence here – Jerusalem!"

Pres. Bush Delivers the Most Overtly Religious Speech
US President George Bush spoke for almost 25 minutes, delivering a speech filled with references to God, to Israel as the Holy Land and to the heritage of the Biblical patriarchs, as well as to what he characterized as America's unswerving commitment to Israel.

Bush began by joking that he was told it is a rare event "to have just one person in this chamber speaking at a time." He noted his regret that Ariel Sharon, who is still hospitalized and in a coma, was not able to be with him.

The following are excerpts of President Bush's addresses to the members of the Knesset:

"We gather to mark a momentous occasion. Sixty years ago in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel's independence, founded on the "natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate." What followed was more than the establishment of a new country. It was the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David -- a homeland for the chosen people: Eretz Yisrael.

"Eleven minutes later, on the orders of President Harry Truman, the United States was proud to be the first nation to recognize Israel's independence. And on this landmark anniversary, America is proud to be Israel's closest ally and best friend in the world.

"The alliance between our governments is unbreakable, yet the source of our friendship runs deeper than any treaty. It is grounded in the shared spirit of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the soul. When William Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted the words of Jeremiah: "Come let us declare in Zion the word of God." The founders of my country saw a new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish state.

"Centuries of suffering and sacrifice would pass before the dream was fulfilled. The Jewish people endured the agony of the pogroms, the tragedy of the Great War, and the horror of the Holocaust -- what Elie Wiesel called "the kingdom of the night." Soulless men took away lives and broke apart families. Yet they could not take away the spirit of the Jewish people, and they could not break the promise of God."

"...When Americans look at Israel, we see a pioneer spirit that worked an agricultural miracle and now leads a high-tech revolution. We see world-class universities and a global leader in business and innovation and the arts. We see a resource more valuable than oil or gold: the talent and determination of a free people who refuse to let any obstacle stand in the way of their destiny."

"...And earlier today, I visited Masada, an inspiring monument to courage and sacrifice. At this historic site, Israeli soldiers swear an oath: 'Masada shall never fall again.' Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will be at your side."

"...We believe that democracy is the only way to ensure human rights. So we consider it a source of shame that the United Nations routinely passes more human rights resolutions against the freest democracy in the Middle East than any other nation in the world.

"We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to a civilized society. So we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms -- whether by those who openly question Israel's right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them.

"We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace. So we applaud the courageous choices Israeli's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.

"We believe that targeting innocent lives to achieve political objectives is always and everywhere wrong. So we stand together against terror and extremism, and we will never let down our guard or lose our resolve. The fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time."

"...This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is an ancient battle between good and evil. The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis.

"And that is why the founding charter of Hamas calls for the elimination of Israel. And that is why the followers of Hizbullah chant, 'Death to Israel, Death to America!' That is why Osama bin Laden teaches that 'the killing of Jews and Americans is one of the biggest duties.' And that is why the President of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map."

"...Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. ...We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

"Some people suggest if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away. This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace, and America utterly rejects it. Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you."

President Bush went on to describe his view of the Middle East sixty years hence:

"Israel will be celebrating the 120th anniversary as one of the world's great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved - a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror. From Cairo to Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy and tourism and trade. Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, with today's oppression a distant memory and where people are free to speak their minds and develop their God-given talents. Al-Qaeda and Hizbullah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists' vision and the injustice of their cause.

"Overall, the Middle East will be characterized by a new period of tolerance and integration. And this doesn't mean that Israel and its neighbors will be best of friends. But when leaders across the region answer to their people, they will focus their energies on schools and jobs, not on rocket attacks and suicide bombings. With this change, Israel will open a new hopeful chapter in which its people can live a normal life, and the dream of Herzl and the founders of 1948 can be fully and finally realized."

The US leader concluded with an apocryphal story from the time of Israel's founding:

"Sixty years ago, on the eve of Israel's independence, the last British soldiers departing Jerusalem stopped at a building in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. An officer knocked on the door and met a senior rabbi. The officer presented him with a short iron bar - the key to the Zion Gate - and said it was the first time in 18 centuries that a key to the gates of Jerusalem had belonged to a Jew. His hands trembling, the rabbi offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God, 'Who had granted us life and permitted us to reach this day.' Then he turned to the officer, and uttered the words Jews had awaited for so long: 'I accept this key in the name of my people.'

"Over the past six decades, the Jewish people have established a state that would make that humble rabbi proud. You have raised a modern society in the Promised Land, a light unto the nations that preserves the legacy of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And you have built a mighty democracy that will endure forever and can always count on the United States of America to be at your side. God bless."

Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel has published an open letter to US President George W. Bush calling on him to keep his word and honor his promises to Ariel Sharon regarding building in areas of Judea and Samaria.

The mayor of the Jerusalem suburb points out in his letter that every Israeli prime minister since Yitzchak Rabin has declared the necessity to build in the so-called E-1 area between Maaleh Adumim and the capital.

Kashriel quote’s Bush’s own letter that he wrote to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the months prior to the 2005 Disengagement in which the US President recognized the concept of settlement blocs to be annexed by Israel, even following a final negotiated agreement.

The relevant text of the letter reads: “In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion. It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities.”

State department officials later spoke dismissively of the letter, saying its non-committal wording was meant to allow Sharon to claim diplomatic gains in order to promote his Gaza withdrawal, but not as a solid commitment that Israel could retain any parts of Judea or Samaria.

Kashriel’s open letter to Bush was published Thursday in Israel’s daily newspapers. The mayor himself has moved a caravan to the E-1 area, which now sits alongside the new Judea and Samaria police headquarters on the barren tract of land slated to become the neighborhood of Mevaseret Adumim.

Today is Herzl Day, the 148th birthday of the visionary of the modern Jewish state. A survey of 500 university students in Israel shows incredible boorishness about his accomplishments.

The survey, in the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire, was conducted  by statistician Dr. Hallel Cohen for the Herzl Council in the Prime Minister's Office. It shows a small improvement over what university students knew about Binyamin Ze'ev (Theodor) Herzl three years ago - yet still, a full 73% did not know what ideas he actually worked to promote.

Asked what was the most important idea he worked to convince the British to adopt, only 27% chose the correct answer, "promotion of the idea that later became the Balfour Declaration."  The others either admitted they didn't know, chose answers that were historically inapplicable, or were otherwise wrong. Over a quarter said he worked to nullify the White Papers [the first one of which was written 18 years after his death].  Another 10% thought he tried to end the British Mandate - which, in actuality, did not even begin until 13 years after his death.

Nearly 50% could not identify Herzl as the author of Altneuland (Old New Land, translated into English as "The Jewish State"), one of the most important Zionist works. This is an improvement over three years ago, however, when 61% did not know this fact.

Some 17% thought that Herzl, a totally assimilated Jew, wanted Israel to be a state founded on Jewish Law.  This finding matched those of three years ago. In fact, however, he believed that Israel should be secular , with some identifying characteristics of Jewish values.

Herzl "Founded the Jewish State" in 1898
Israel commemorated Herzl Day for the first time in 2005, after legislation was passed rendering the 10th day of the month of Iyar a national day of commemoration of the man who forged and worked for the idea of the modern State of Israel. After he headed the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, he wrote in his diary, “In Basel, I founded the Jewish State... If I said this aloud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. Perhaps in five years, and certainly in fifty, everyone will agree.” On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.

A review of rabbinical and other opinions, such as those of Rabbi A. I. Kook, about Herzl can be read here.