I want to tell you that Israel is a democracy and every citizen is automatically registered to vote. There’s a commitment in our declaration of independence, guaranteed under Israel’s law, that all our citizens, Arab and Jews, alike, have the right to vote.
I don’t think Israel can accept an Iranian terror base next to its major cities any more than the United States could accept an al Qaeda base next to New York City.
The Palestinian society is split into two – those who are openly calling for Israel’s destruction like Hamas, and those who are not calling openly for Israel’s destruction but refuse to confront those who do. And that’s the Palestinian authority.
When I say that terrorism is war against civilization, I may be met by the objection that terrorists are often idealists pursuing worthy ultimate aims — national or regional independence, and so forth. I do not accept this argument.
I’m very proud of the fact that Israel is the one country in a very broad radius that – in which Arabs have free and fair elections. That’s sacrosanct. That will never change. I wasn’t trying to suppress a vote.
I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That’s like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, or the British of Anglicizing London. You know why we’re called ‘Jews’? Because we come from Judea.
I would say we want to stop the firing of rockets, for sure. But we also want to dismantle the terror – the tunnel – the terror tunnel networks that we have uncovered.
