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Greetings!
From Jerusalem, our eternal and indivisible capital, I send
my heartfelt greetings to the Jewish communities throughout
the diaspora on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of Israel's
independence in Eretz Israel.
Yom Ha'Atzmaut—Independ
ence Day—is a universal Jewish
festival commemorating the
victory of the few over the many,!
right over wrong, justice over
might. After the most terrible
catastrophe ever to have
befallen our once homeless, and
helpless people, and the heroic
battle for national self-liberation
in Eretz Israel, we have lived to
see the day when the flag of
Jewish liberty has been raised
again in the land of our
forefathers. This day shall
forever be celebrated as one of
the greatest in the annals of our ancient people, indeed of
mankind.
Israel has remained faithful to its Declaration of
Independence. We have brought home millions of our
scattered sisters and brothers, we have built up the land and
made it green, we have gained national vigor with each passing
year, we have renewed our heritage. Not since the days of the
Maccabees has Israel enjoyed such strength.
Five times our enemies launched war against us. in their
bloody attempt to destroy our independence .'Five times we
repelled rhe aggressors and won the day. The best of our sons
sacrificed their lives so that we might celebrate this day. Their
memory shall live on forever.
Israel’s unflinching resolve to pursue the cause of peace
with security was consummated in the signing of the Treaty of
Peace with Egypt This milestone constitutes, no doubt, a
turning point in the history of our two countries and of the
Middle East. We made great and painful sacrifices for the sake
of that peace, as demonstrated during these very days. Let the
world note what the Jewish State did to break the cycle of
warfare, sorrow and bereavement which had prevailed for
more than three decades. And now we look to the future,
hopeful and confident that the preace with Egypt will deepen
and prosper and that the problems still outstanding will be
overcome. For, better the difficulties of peace than the
sufferings of war.
Elsewhere in our region and its periphery, the convulsions
and turmoil persist. Iraq and Iran remain locked in attritional
bloodletting; the Iraqi aggressor, implacable enemy of Israel,
is bogged down. Jordan has sided with Iraq and Syria with Iran.
Syria itself is seized by internal bloody eruption, accompanied
by fearful massacres. Lebanon remains in a state of strife,
occupied by Syria and plagued by the so-called PLO, which
continues to amass weapons financed by Saudi Arabia and
supplied by the Soviet Union and its satellites.
It is in this turbulent context that Israel, stable, strong and
faithful ally of the free and democratic family of nations, strives
to pursue its goals of peace while remaining ever vigilant in
protecting its national rights and its vital security in Eretz Israel.
Indeed, the challenges ahead are many but we have started
a great new chapter of peace. We live by the faith that it shall
yet grow and that here, in Eretz Israel, future generations will
live together with our neighbors in equality,in humandignity,
in freedom, in independence and in real security.
On this Day of Independence, we share the prayer that our
fellow Jews in countries of distress will be rescued from their
torment. We, Israel, shall continue to leave no stone unturned
in the holy endeavor to bring them home. We shall.
We look toward a future of aliyah from throughout the
free world—thousands and tens of thousands of our Jewish
brethren to share in the momentous task of rebuilding the land
of our forefathers—for the glory of the lewish people and of all
free people. .. .. ,
Hag Sameach.
Menachem Begin ^
The Souther
Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
Our 57fh Year
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, April 30, 1982
Vol. LVII1
No. 18
Begin hardens position
on future of settlements
by David Landau
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Prime
Minister Menachem Begin is
seeking a national consensus that
Israel will never agree to the
rempval of Jewish settlements
anywhere, even in the context of
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Arab countries, lie made it clear
Tuesday in an Independence Day
eve interview on Voice of Israel
Radio that his position on
settlements has hardened after the
withdrawal from Sinai and the
dismantlement of Yamit and other
Jewish settlements there.
At the same time, in an interview
published Monday in the Egyptian
weekly, Mayo, Begin passionately
reiterated what he called Israel’s
“paternal right” to the West Bank.
Publication of the interview
coincided with a speech to the
Egyptian Parliament by President
Hosni Mubarak in which he hailed
the restoration of Egyptian
sovereignty in Sinai as a
“magnificent achievement" and
praised Israel for returning the
territory. “The people of Israel
have shown an enthusiasm for
peace,” he said.
Begin will meet shortly with
L abor Party Chairman Shimon
Peres and is expected to ask for the
opposition’s support of a
parliamentary measure that would
establish in law Israel’s refusal to
remove any settlements in the
territories it occupies. Such a
measure, proposed by Education
Minister Zevulun Flammer of the
National Religious Party, is
expected to win approval at next
Sunday’s Cabinet meeting and be
sent to the Knesset.
The text of Begin's Mayo
interview was released by the
prime minister's office here.
Referring to the five-year
transition period stipulated
by the Camp David accords
during which autonomy would be
in effect on the West Hank and
Gaza Strip while the future status
of those territories is negotiated,
Begin said:
“My opinion is that after the
transition period we shall put out
the claim to our paternal right, and
then, if it is decreed that it should
be Israel’s sovereignty over that
Dart of the land, we will keep
Palestinian ' AHTSs under all
circumstances.”
In his radio interview Tuesday,
Begin insisted that the next round
of the autonomy talks with Egypt
and the U.S. must Lie held in
Jerusalem and nowhere else. He
said if Egypt refused, Israel would
refuse to meet at another location.
So far, the talks have alternated
between Israel and Egypt, with Tel
Aviv their locus in Israel.
The Egyptians have declined to
meet in Jerusalem because of
the implication that it recognizes
Israel's sovereignty over the city.
The U.S. has offered Washington
as an alternate site but the Israelis
have refused.
Asked by the interviewer why
Israel had decided to level Yamit
and other settlements before
leaving Sinai, a spectacle that
shocked Israelis watching it on
television, he replied that the
measure was taken for urgent
security reasons but refused to
^borate. He would not say who
gave the orders to level Yamit.
Begin confirmed that Israel was
carrying out daily reconnaissance
flights over Lebanon and warned
that if the Syrians interfered with
them, Israel would deal with their
anti-aircraft missiles in the Beka
valley of central Lebanon.
He attributed the absence of any
military response by the Palestine
Liberation Organization to Israel’s
air raids on its bases in Lebanon
last week to fear of stiff reprisals.
He said warnings were relayed to
the PLO via the U.S. that they
faced severe consequences if they
opened fire on Israeli border
towns.
ATLANTA JEWISH FEDERATION
$6,200,000—1982 CAMPAIGN GOAL
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ON OUR WAY TO SUCCESS!
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