What We Didn’t See in the Papers (Gingrich remarks from Israel)

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaking before the Knesset in Israel, addressed the shared values and common interests of the United States and Israel. It was a moving tribute to Israel’s special place as an ally and friend of America. Much the way Prime Minister Netanyahu did during his enthusiastically received speech before the Joint Session of Congress in 1996, Mr. Gingrich stressed the importance of democratic countries serving as a bulwark against dictatorships attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaking before the Knesset in Israel, addressed the shared values and common interests of the United States and Israel. It was a moving tribute to Israel’s special place as an ally and friend of America. Much the way Prime Minister Netanyahu did during his enthusiastically received speech before the Joint Session of Congress in 1996, Mr. Gingrich stressed the importance of democratic countries serving as a bulwark against dictatorships attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction. The American media largely ignored the Speaker’s remarks in favor of manufactured controversy. Therefore, we will provide excerpts:

“We are bound together by a common spiritual experience. It is a bond that is felt most powerfully here, in this city. As we overlook Jerusalem and look at the sights that touched the lives of Abraham, David and Christ, we understand the depth of a relationship that is far more than shared geopolitical interests. We are bound together morally. Our two countries are committed to freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and individual rights. We’re bound together by pure friendship.”

“We in Congress stood with [Yitzhak Rabin at the celebration of the 3,000th anniversary of Jerusalem] then, and stand with you today, in recognizing Jerusalem as the united and eternal capital of Israel.”

“We remember the commitment of the early Zionists who convened the first Zionist Congress a century ago, lived through the horror of the Holocaust, and finally, witnessed the birth of a Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisrael. We remember the story of the last 50 years, of a state that has survived wars and countless acts of terrorism to maintain its place among the nations. We remember with you because we believe that the anniversary of Israel’s rebirth is not just a celebration for Israel alone, it is a celebration for all who are inspired by the faith that was born in this land. It is a celebration for all who see in Israel an outpost in the struggle for freedom across the globe. And it is a celebration for all who see in the fundamental relationship between our two countries a remarkable history and a great hope.”

“No one can hope to achieve true peace unless it is always coupled with true security. The peace process must ensure that Israel will retain the ability to protect its own citizens from terrorism. It must ensure that Israel maintains secure borders with its neighbors. Without establishing those realities, it cannot succeed. For this reason, we support the Clinton administration when it says that Israel alone must determine its security needs.”

“Through our victory in the Cold War, the United States and its allies defeated Soviet communism. In the subsequent years, however, rogue regimes in countries like Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Libya emerged from the shadows of the vanishing Soviet Empire. In the hands of these dictatorships, weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them have become a dangerous threat to Israel, to the United States and to our allies. Like few others on the planet, Israelis know the real palpable threat from dictatorships that are methodically developing these weapons and delivery systems.

“Despite the partial effectiveness of Patriot missiles, at times our only defense [against Iraqi Scud missiles] was the inaccuracy of the Scuds themselves. In our review of the Gulf War, we discovered that not one Scud or Scud launcher was confirmed as destroyed on the ground in Iraq, despite a great effort to do so. Since 1991, rogue dictatorships have relentlessly worked to improve both their weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. Nevertheless, in some quarters, there is a breathtaking avoidance of what these facts imply. If dictatorships work while democracies talk, a catastrophe will become inevitable. For democracies to survive and dictatorships to fail, we must establish a vision of a secure democracy and we must implement three parallel strategies to achieve that vision. Our success must be built on the strategies of containment, defense and replacement.

“First, we must put unrelenting pressure on anyone assisting these outlaw dictatorships with their weapons programs. We cannot have normal relations with governments either tolerating or encouraging assistance to these dictatorships, whether the governments are active participants or acquiescent partners.

“Second… the United States must aggressively develop both theater and global missile defenses…

“Our third strategy must be to preempt catastrophe by insisting that dictatorships be replaced with democracies… This vision of democratic success and the failure of dictatorships will require the same level of courage and commitment that in World War II defeated Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and imperial Japan. It will require the unrelenting persistence that for 45 years methodically contained, defended against, and in concert with the Russian and other captive peoples, ultimately replaced a communist dictatorship with fledgling democracies.”

“If we achieve peace through security in this region, the economies will flourish… first because open borders and free trade produce wealth. No one should know this better than the Palestinians.”

“I want to share with you, for one brief moment, the magic you represent. One hundred years ago, this was Ottoman Turkish land. Russia was czarist. Germany was imperial. China had not yet had the revolution that ended the Confucian domination, and the Manchu Dynasty was still there. Japan was imperial in every sense, and democracy was a strange idea in only a few countries. One hundred years later, we are gaining. It’s painful. It costs lives. We make big mistakes. If you go to Yad Vashem you are reminded with heart-rending clarity of the cost of being wrong.

“And yet, in America, in Israel, in Europe, in more and more of Asia, in Russia day by day, this thing that we jointly represent – elect people to speak for you, put them in one room, and make them fight it out – this thing is slowly spreading across the planet.

“I am convinced from our trip here that Israeli democracy has never been more vibrant. It has never had a greater range of potential leaders pushing, shoving, and arguing. It has never wrestled more passionately with the future of Israel and its relations with its neighbors. And as an American, I can tell you how much we gained from these days, how much stronger we will be going home, how much more grateful we are that you, here in the City of David, continue to stand for freedom, and how much we want to reach out to work with each and every one of you to make sure that 50 years and 3,000 years from now freedom exists in this land.”