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Rahm Emanuel - The US-Israel relationship: where it stands today and the road ahead — Transcript

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0:00I want to start by saying four words
0:04that Israelis don't often hear anymore.
0:10I understand your cynicism and I
0:12understand your anger.
0:14I understand
0:18why even if you oppose the Netanyahu
0:20government,
0:23you're so prone to dismiss criticism
0:26from the outside world.
0:29I understand that the corrupt
0:30Palestinian leadership
0:33has never lived
0:37up to the Palestinian people's
0:38legitimate right for self-determination
0:40and sovereignty.
0:42I understand for all of that
0:46everyone acknowledges that the world
0:48changed on October 7th. The dynamics
0:52that prevail today
0:55were born well before Hamas
0:59consciously murdered
1:02and sexually abused
1:041,200
1:07innocent civilians and kidnapped more
1:10than 250 innocents.
1:14And for those
1:16that paraded, celebrated, and cheered on
1:20October 8th what happened on October
1:227th,
1:24your moral bankruptcy
1:27speaks louder than my words today.
1:30Before coming here
1:34yesterday,
1:38I visited my uncle's grave site
1:42on Mount Olives.
1:44as I always do
1:47upon arriving in Israel.
1:50He died as a member of the underground.
1:54And as many of you may or may not know,
1:56my father, a blessed memory, was born
1:59here in Jerusalem and fought in the War
2:02of Independence.
2:04I had the honor when I was working for
2:06President Clinton of inviting my father
2:10to witness the moment
2:13Prime Minister Rabine and Chairman
2:15Arafat shook hands and signed the
2:17declaration of principles on the south
2:20lawn of the White House.
2:23But not only did peace not materialize,
2:28Israel's reward for extending the olive
2:30branch
2:32was a wave of unrelenting
2:35violence.
2:37Bombings
2:40on the streets of Dizing
2:42in Raman
2:45in Yehuda market targeting civilians
2:50for being Israelis.
2:53I was still advising President Clinton
2:55from Chicago
2:58when the prime minister Eh Barak offered
3:02chairman Arafat 98% of what the
3:04Palestinians were seeking but he refused
3:07to sign. And what did Israel earn
3:11offering sovereignty in exchange for its
3:14own security?
3:16The antifat
3:18again targeting civilians.
3:21Prime Minister Omar made a similar offer
3:25years later to the Palestinians in 2007,
3:30but President Abbas
3:32once again walked away, sparking another
3:35wave of violence, horrific violence
3:38that targeted civilians.
3:41Three times
3:43in the 90s and 2000,
3:46Israel, you have offered the Palestinian
3:49sovereignty in exchange for your
3:51security. And three times
3:54your offer was not only rejected
3:57politically, but was answered and met
4:00with direct attacks on the people of
4:03Israel. In the United States,
4:06we have a saying,
4:09fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
4:13twice,
4:14shame on me. So I truly understand that.
4:19But even while acknowledging
4:22that history, the path forward
4:26cannot be shackled to a past
4:30defined exclusively,
4:32consumed solely by recriminations.
4:37I came here from Chicago to tell you
4:39directly where things need to head if we
4:43are going to maintain the historic
4:46alliance between two democracies.
4:50Without question, the alliance is at a
4:53crossroads.
4:55It cannot stand or survive as it has
4:58been. To maintain the strength of our
5:02ties,
5:04this alliance needs significant changes
5:07and a new direction.
5:10Let's re start by reviewing recent
5:13history. Over the last five years,
5:16Israel has evolved from being known as
5:19the startup nation
5:21to becoming, in the prime minister's own
5:24words, a modern-day Sparta.
5:28You have turned from being known as for
5:30your technological prowess to being
5:32considered primarily a territorial
5:35pariah.
5:37You
5:39you in this room need to think about
5:41what that means for your future.
5:44The United States has been your foremost
5:47and steadfast ally since Israel's birth
5:51and its founding. We are prepared to
5:53stand shoulder-to-shoulder
5:56with Israel on the long and difficult
5:58journey towards peace
6:02should you choose that path.
6:05But the most important thing a friend
6:07can do is to tell truth to a friend even
6:12when it's painful.
6:15Today is a day for truth.
6:18The prime minister and his government
6:19have led Israel into a dead end. For too
6:23long, American policy towards Israel
6:26operated under the assumption that the
6:28best thing Washington can do for
6:30Jerusalem is to blindly, to silently
6:34stand behind your government
6:37without conditions,
6:39without demands,
6:41without consequences,
6:43even when we disagreed.
6:47That has been our mistake and it's been
6:50not a favor to you. Unconditional
6:53support has produced a prime minister
6:56who has presumed that his strategic
6:58interest would incur the political would
7:00incur no political costs if he ignored
7:02America's concerns about settlements and
7:05sparked a regional war.
7:08unconditional support has allowed you to
7:11deny food and medical relief
7:15to innocent Palestinians
7:17in Gaza, leaving the world to conclude
7:22that Israelis not only want to kill
7:23Palestinians, but they are completely
7:26indifferent to their death, to their
7:28destruction, and completely indifferent
7:29to their suffering. Unconditional
7:32support has gerted a political coalition
7:34in the Knesset that learned it can burn
7:37Palestinian farmland in the West Bank,
7:40terrorize Palestinian families without
7:45consequence.
7:47Given all of this, we need fundamentally
7:50a new and different approach
7:54to this alliance.
7:57The new approach must stand on a new
7:59common understanding that the road to
8:02regional peace and stability depends on
8:05military and diplomatic efforts that far
8:09from being at odds
8:12actually complement one each other
8:14actually complement each other.
8:18This was actually Israel's policy at one
8:21time. The late Prime Minister Yeetszak
8:24Rabbin, who I had the honor of working
8:26with when I worked for President
8:27Clinton, admonished the country to fight
8:30terrorism as if there's no peace process
8:33and to make peace
8:35as if there's no terror.
8:38But Prime Minister Netanyahu has done
8:40the former to the exclusion of the
8:42latter. And as a direct result, support
8:44for Israel is plummeting around the
8:47world.
8:49You've lost Europe.
8:52your biggest economic partner and
8:55market. Your scientists
8:59face exclusion from international
9:01conferences and research networks. Your
9:03artists and academics are shout out of
9:06exhibits and meetings.
9:09In 2022,
9:1155% of Americans held a favorable view
9:14of Israel. Today, it is 37%
9:18and it is dropping. And among the youth
9:21of both America and Europe, the future
9:24of both America and Europe, it's even
9:27lower.
9:29The only diplomatic gain you've mass
9:32made in the last three years is Somali
9:35land.
9:37As my grandmother would say, you lost
9:39America, you lost Europe, and you picked
9:41up Somali land. Such a deal.
9:45But that's the consequence and the net
9:47result of policy choices.
9:50Your years, for years, when I've met
9:53with Israeli officials, Iran
9:56has consistently been at the top of the
9:59agenda. And for good reason. Both
10:02Washington and Jerusalem share an
10:05interest in keeping the Ayatollah from
10:07possessing a nuclear weapon.
10:10But the history here is important.
10:14As an underscore to the earlier point,
10:17whatever anyone might have liked or
10:19disliked about President Obama's nuclear
10:22agreement,
10:24and recall that Prime Minister Netanyahu
10:27actively campaigned against it,
10:30many though in your own security
10:32services saw merit in the deal. The
10:35JCPOA
10:36froze Iran's nuclear program, had
10:39international support, and placed
10:42international inspectors on the ground.
10:48That's over.
10:50President Trump's decision to shred that
10:53agreement licensed Prime Minister
10:55Netanyahu to do what he has always
10:57desired and advocated, embrace a
11:00militaryonly approach.
11:03He encouraged President Trump to abandon
11:06the G JCPOA in the first term, which was
11:09done, and to scuttle all
11:12diplomatic efforts and opportunities
11:15prior to February 28th
11:19when Iran was weakest at home and in the
11:25region.
11:28You cannot achieve regime change if
11:30that's your goal.
11:33from the sky, only from the streets. And
11:37look what's happened. Israel's lost
11:39ground. You're less safe today, not
11:42more. And the problem isn't the lack of
11:44military strength, but something more
11:47fundamental.
11:49Israel has failed to convert its
11:51military gains into strategic
11:55advantages.
11:57The same dynamic extends beyond Iran.
12:00You had no day after plan for Gaza. You
12:04had no strategy to make a partner of the
12:06Lebanese government against Hezbollah,
12:10Sinir, Nazarella,
12:13Kamini, all dead.
12:16Just as is many in Israel have long
12:18sought. And yet Israel has never been
12:23more strategically isolated. It should
12:25be obvious that strategic isolation is
12:29not a foundation for security.
12:32It's a countdown clock.
12:35I haven't been deaf or immune to Prime
12:39Minister Netanyahu's arguments. Indeed,
12:42he was taken aback when I had the
12:46audacity as President Obama's chief of
12:48staff to forcefully question in 2009 the
12:52wisdom of building new housing in the
12:55West Bank. Provocative housing, a
12:59conversation, and I use that term
13:01loosely,
13:02that later spurred him to publicly label
13:06me a self-loathing Jew.
13:10He believes that being Sparta
13:14is worthwhile
13:16even despite the reality
13:19that his own idol Winston Churchill
13:23once argued that weapons are not
13:26sufficient by themselves. We must add to
13:29them the power of ideas.
13:32Now here I want to be very clear.
13:35The United States cannot continue to
13:38finance and support that cynicism
13:42in silence. You cannot fight
13:45indefinitely against a world that has
13:48stopped believing you have a right to
13:51fight. You must instead find a new
13:54sustainable path to peace, to security,
13:56and prosperity. And America stands ready
14:01should you choose that path.
14:04The new path needs to be shared by what
14:07has worked and what hasn't. In Israel's
14:09efforts to become, in the late founding
14:13father Benorian's own words, a nation
14:16among nations. Through the decades,
14:18Jerusalem has pro pursued three distinct
14:21strategies. The first is unilateral
14:23action,
14:25which almost always creates instability.
14:27Think Lebanon or even Gaza after your
14:30withdrawal in 2005 which got you
14:33Hezbollah and Hamas respectively in the
14:36north and the south.
14:39These are the places in which Iran,
14:42your most potent adversary,
14:45has most successfully inserted its
14:47talents, where it finds and nurtures its
14:51proxies.
14:52Israel thrives
14:55working with other nations. Iran thrives
14:59working with failed nations and working
15:02inside failed nations.
15:06We should not be adopting you should not
15:09be adopting their strategy with
15:12unilateral action. Even when you win,
15:15you lose.
15:17The second approach, which has also
15:19proven to be a surfire recipe, I hope
15:23that wasn't an editorial comment.
15:27For endless conflict is divorce and
15:30occupation. I want to be very clear
15:32about this. The pursuit of a so-called
15:34greater Israel is as self-destructive
15:37and fanatical as the chant from the
15:40river to the sea. Your government has
15:43been complicit in the horrors now being
15:45inflicted on innocent families in the
15:47West Bank. That undermines your
15:50international legitimacy as a small
15:53nation at a time when you can least
15:56afford it. The hard truth is that
15:58America's silence through the years has
16:01engendered the worst of your domestic
16:03politics. We've done you no favors by
16:06averting our eyes from, in my view, your
16:08misjudgments.
16:10And to that end, if I have anything to
16:11say about this, in the future,
16:14every Israeli found attacking
16:16Palestinian civilians or their property
16:19in the future will be sanctioned.
16:22[applause]
16:27[applause]
16:29Hold your applause because you may not
16:31like this.
16:33Every Israeli government official
16:36who supports vi such violence will be
16:39sanctioned.
16:40[applause]
16:45Every construction company or bank
16:48financing or building illegal
16:50settlements will be sanctioned.
16:53[applause]
16:56I gotcha. Prime Minister Netanyahu may
16:59take offense to these suggestions.
17:02breaking news. It wouldn't be the first
17:03time.
17:05My commitments are neither radical nor
17:08new. They simply reflect how the United
17:11States of America applies its national
17:13security tools to achieve its goals.
17:17To that end, Israel has at its disposal
17:20a third option and a third approach, one
17:24that has succeeded repeatedly in your
17:26own history. And today, I call on you to
17:30embrace it.
17:31once again for both the security of our
17:35alliance and the security of the state
17:36of Israel. I will never forget how at
17:39the ceremony where Jordan and Israel
17:42made their peace in 1994,
17:45Israel's military leadership stood at
17:48attention during the Jordanian anthem.
17:53and Jordan's military leadership
17:57returned the honor during the playing of
17:59Hatikva,
18:02the power of that symbol. And like the
18:061979 treaty with Egypt and decades
18:09later, the Abraham Accords,
18:13the peace agreements with other nations
18:15have endured because Israel found their
18:18counterparts to be a true partner in the
18:21pursuit of both peace and security. And
18:24the question today,
18:27can the same wisdom apply forward?
18:31And the answer come down comes down to a
18:33simple phrase,
18:35stability. Regional stability.
18:39Even before October 7th,
18:42seven several of Israel's Arab
18:44neighbors, most notably Saudi Arabia,
18:47had begun to see their own strategic
18:49interests in a new light, acknowledging
18:53more openly that the corruption of the
18:56Palestinian leadership
18:58was hindering the Arab world's
19:00broadbased prosperity. and that
19:03highlights a lynchpin that is too often
19:06overlooked
19:08or ignored.
19:10Regional stability in the Middle East is
19:13predicated fundamentally on the Arab
19:15world assuming its rightful place and
19:17responsibility as the adult in the room
19:20with the Palestinian leadership.
19:23And here's why that's so important.
19:26Unlike during the Oslo process of years
19:28ago,
19:31they the Arab League appear now willing
19:33to step into that role. And in that
19:36spirit, I want to propose today a new
19:39three-part US policy in the region,
19:42which would advance our joint security
19:44interests by leveraging the Arab world's
19:47desire for stability,
19:50Israel's need for its own security, and
19:54the Palestinian demands for sovereignty.
19:58These three elements can be packaged as
20:00a singular strategic initiative that
20:03benefits all. And let's begin with the
20:05naked truth and reality. The Arab
20:08leaders, not Israel, must hold the
20:11Palestinians responsible and accountable
20:15[applause]
20:19for their actions and for being a true
20:23partner in peace.
20:25And to that end, the now discredited
20:28path to a two-state solution should be
20:30replaced by a 23-state solution. The 21
20:34Arab nations that have exploited
20:36Palestinian rights as a slogan for
20:38decades now need to roll up their
20:40sleeves,
20:45stand up a governing authority capable
20:49of accepting the historic Jewish
20:52connection to the land of Israel.
20:55The new institution must put an end to
20:57the heinous practice of financially
21:00rewarding
21:02terrorists who kill Jews because they're
21:04Jews.
21:06And they [applause]
21:11and they must do the most important
21:13thing as well. Stop teaching their
21:16children the future of their country to
21:18hate Israel.
21:21[applause]
21:24At the same time,
21:27Israel must cease to desist from its
21:30cynical game
21:32of nurturing destructive organizations
21:35like Hamas
21:39rather than nurturing partners in peace.
21:44Your government shouldn't be permitted
21:46to take unilateral actions in the West
21:49Bank that undermine the possibility, the
21:52opportunity of a peace agreement. With
21:55those preconditions met, we would open
21:57the door to a new reality. The Arab
22:00League would establish full diplom
22:02diplomatic recognition of Israel
22:06and Israel with all 21 members of the
22:10Arab League just as they had once
22:13proposed.
22:14The political benefits for all parties
22:17would be far greater
22:20than a two-state solution could ever
22:22offer the two parties.
22:24But if I can't convince you of that,
22:28I want you to think about this. [snorts]
22:31If Israel made peace with 21 members of
22:34the Arab nations, that would be your
22:37greatest day and Iran's worst nightmare.
22:43[applause]
22:47I understand why Israelis
22:51would be reluctant to engage again.
22:54I get it.
22:56The terrible atrocities,
22:59the unspeakable horrors of the violence
23:02and sexual abuse and the killings on
23:05October 7th
23:07are seared
23:09in your collective consciousness.
23:13And they have convinced many Israelis
23:15that the Palestinians want only to kill
23:18them.
23:20And after the last three years of war,
23:24the Palestinians are convinced that is
23:26all that Israel wants to do to them. We
23:29now have two people suffering from deep
23:32trauma, incapable of seeing the other's
23:35pain and anguish
23:37and empathizing
23:40with their pain and anguish. But I want
23:43you to hear me now.
23:45Israel will be alone if its leaders
23:48choose to attempt to enex the West Bank
23:53and pursue the fantasies of a greater
23:56Israel.
23:57America will not America cannot and it
24:01will not be complicit or complacent in
24:04that endeavor.
24:07>> [applause]
24:08>> That said, should you choose to pursue
24:12peace and security,
24:14we in the United States will be by your
24:16side every day, every step.
24:20The end goal of our joint strategy
24:22should be a single 23-state act of
24:26regional integration that establishes
24:28full diplomatic relations between Israel
24:32and all its Arab neighbors. And if
24:34you're not convinced regional and you're
24:36convinced regional stability
24:39would be an integral part to Israel's
24:42peace and security, you would no longer
24:46stand apart, but you would stand as a
24:49part of the Middle East.
24:52Second, because the region's prosperity
24:54depends on stability, we need to restore
24:56the economic promise of what it means to
24:59be a startup nation that once seized the
25:02world's imagination.
25:04The India Middle East Europe Economic
25:07Corridor IMEC
25:10was announced at the G20
25:14three years ago to connect the rail
25:16lines, the ports, the highways, the
25:18fiber optic cables and the energy
25:19networks running between India and
25:22Europe. By reducing logistical costs by
25:2530% and bypassing the straight of
25:28Hermuz, it would make Israel and several
25:31Gulf countries indispensable nodes in a
25:34new global supply chain and give each
25:37country along the corridor a direct
25:40financial stake in regional stability.
25:43With 23 state solution,
25:47the economic opportunity of IMEC at long
25:50less would ensure that Israel both
25:52politically and economically is a
25:54constituent part of the Middle East
25:56rather than an outlier. And finally,
26:00much as America benefits from the
26:02alliance with the Middle East most
26:05dynamic dem democracy, I've said it
26:08before, we should end at long last
26:10American taxpayer subsidy of Israel's
26:12defense budget. Your economy is strong.
26:16Your defense budget exceeds $45 billion.
26:19We in America would continue to ensure
26:21that the IDF maintains its qualitative
26:23edge. But Israel
26:27should be able to buy American arms
26:30under the same financial terms,
26:33the same restrictions,
26:36and the same requirements as every other
26:38trusted ally that abides by America's
26:42laws.
26:44This new direction is about a new
26:46reality.
26:48Those chanting from the river to the sea
26:50need to hear this.
26:54You will never have your way.
26:57But those calling for a greater Israel,
27:00you need to hear this.
27:03You will never have your way either.
27:07[applause]
27:09Both of them are fantasies chanted by
27:14fanatics that lead to perpetual endless
27:18conflict.
27:20My three propositions and proposals are
27:22about Israel's future. They're about the
27:25alliance's future, and they're also
27:27about a stable Middle East. They're also
27:31about America's interests.
27:34An Israel that buys its weapons like an
27:36ally, not a dependent.
27:39An Israel that has full diplomatic
27:40relations with all its Arab neighbors
27:45and is no longer the world's pariah. an
27:48Israel that is the technological spine
27:51of the most important economic corridor
27:54on earth.
27:58I have spent
28:0230 years standing up for Israel when it
28:05was politically costly and watching the
28:09windows of peace
28:11narrow.
28:13Not because peace was impossible,
28:17but because leaders on both sides found
28:22conflict more convenient than
28:25compromise.
28:27Hamas's goal on October 7th was not just
28:31to kill
28:34and abuse as many sexual as many
28:36Israelis as possible.
28:39It was to extinguish
28:43the idea that one day Israelis and
28:46Palestinians
28:48could live and find side by side and
28:51find common ground. The tragedy
28:56is that Netanyahu has helped Hamas
28:59achieve that objective. Not by being too
29:02soft,
29:06but by being so reckless and unwilling
29:08to plan for a day after in Gaza, which
29:11would have created and offered an
29:14alternative
29:15beyond occupation and isolation.
29:21The Israel I grew up believing in was
29:24about making the impossible real. Having
29:28both the imagination and the tenacity to
29:31make the desert bloom. In the United
29:34States, we have a saying,
29:37if all you have is a hammer,
29:40everything you look at is a nail.
29:44Israel will become a prisoner of its own
29:47tools. Your military is a hammer. Such
29:50that to the prime minister Netanyahu,
29:54every security challenge is a nail.
30:00Today, you may be more militarily
30:02secure.
30:04However, you're more diplomatically and
30:07politically isolated
30:09than ever before.
30:12That is a choice this government has
30:14made.
30:16What we need now is an Israel that is
30:19not naive,
30:22but is also not blind to possibility.
30:25An Israel that will work with Arab
30:29partners and Palestinian partners alike
30:32in a 23-state solution with Palestinian
30:36self-determination
30:37and Israel security is the only way
30:40forward.
30:43We in America
30:45just celebrated our 250 year
30:49anniversary.
30:53Thank you.
30:55[applause]
30:59On a revolutionary idea
31:04that
31:06sovereignty
31:09begins with a people, not a king.
31:13The ideas of freedom,
31:15liberty, and equality of opportunity
31:19were principles that would underpin a
31:21new government.
31:24And if you took a bet 250 years ago, you
31:27would have taken that bet.
31:30Through thick and thin, right and wrong,
31:34turns in the road,
31:36we proved the skeptics and the cynics
31:39wrong.
31:41I speak to you today in 2026.
31:45In 22 years,
31:48this country will be 100 years old.
31:51In public life, it's a blink of an eye.
31:56Will that Israel be the Israel
31:59that has more Nobel winners per GDP and
32:03size of population than any other
32:05country in the world? Will it be the
32:08country that captured the imagination of
32:10the world as a startup nation? Will it
32:13be the country that helps on the cures
32:16to cancer, finds ways to feed the hungry
32:21in a both sustainable and resilient way?
32:25Will it be a world and a country that
32:28contributes to the betterment of
32:30humanity?
32:32Or do you believe in your heart of
32:34hearts
32:35that in 22 years what you know today
32:39will be tomorrow?
32:42That choice is yours.
32:47to Rabba.
32:49[applause]

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