Near my heart, I wear a yellow pin. A pin that symbolizes anticipation, hope, and a resounding cry to all humanity: bring back our tortured children and elderly, our women and men, from the tunnels of terror in Gaza \u2013 home, to Israel. We call it “The Hostages Pin.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the massacre of October 7th<\/sup>, 2023 Hamas terrorists attacked our people, they murdered, raped and mutilated women, tortured, beheaded and burned innocent people and entire families, and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amongst our sisters and brothers kidnapped was Omer Neutra, an Israeli and American citizen, whose fate was unknown for well over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Omer\u2019s great-grandfather, Yosef Neutra \u2013 was a Holocaust survivor and a freedom fighter, who survived the Shoah carrying just a few coins in his pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Louise \u2013 Omer’s aunt, took her grandfather Yosef’s coins, and fashioned them into the yellow ribbon hostages symbol – surrounded by barbed wire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The coins that survived humanity’s darkest abyss became the canvas for creating a pin that symbolizes the story of a nation. A symbol of survival, a symbol of faith, a symbol of hope, a symbol of longing, a symbol of remembrance. A symbol of outcry: The outcry of so many generations \u2013 calling for justice, for humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Omer\u2019s parents, Orna and Ronen Neutra \u2013 are here with us today. For over 400 days, Ronen wore the pin on his lapel, hoping and praying for his son’s return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks ago, the Neutra family received the devastating news: Captain Omer Neutra fell heroically in the battles of October 7th<\/sup>. His body is being held by murderous terrorists in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stand before you as president of a nation that is determined and proud, and yet – anguished and incomplete. Although the Israeli people have been overcome with emotion seeing seven of our daughters at last emerge heroically from hell – still, 90 Israelis and foreign nationals remain in Hamas captivity. We are anxiously awaiting six more to be freed this week, and awaiting all others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I call on all representatives in this General Assembly, all who consider themselves part of the civilized world, to throw your weight to ensure our hostages return to their homes – every single one of them. Bring them home now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of the darkest days of the Holocaust, November 3rd<\/sup>, 1943, Rabbi Klonymus Kalman Shapira \u2013 “the Rebbe of Piaseczno” was murdered by the Nazis in the massacre known as “Aktion Erntefest”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly before his death, the Rebbe composed a special prayer for our people, the Jews, who were at the hands of the murderers \u2014 the Nazis and their accomplices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here – at the United Nations General Assembly, as President of the Jewish Democratic State of Israel, I wish to recite this prayer for the urgent return of all of our sisters and brothers who are held in brutal captivity by murderous terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hostages are enduring subhuman conditions, without essential primary health care, without Red Cross visitations, and without any compliance with international law, treaties, or agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will first recite the prayer in our holy language – our people’s language \u2013 in Hebrew, followed by English:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “\u05e8\u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e0\u05d5\u05b9 \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05dc \u05e2\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc\u05b8\u05dd. \u05d4\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05d6\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4 \u05dc\u05b0\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc \u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05db\u05b0\u05d9\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d5\u05bc\u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u05b6\u05e0\u05b0\u05e7\u05b7\u05ea \u05dc\u05b4\u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc, \u05e8\u05b0\u05d0\u05b5\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05e6\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e8\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05e0\u05b0\u05d9\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc, \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b9\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05d9\u05e2\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05de\u05b4\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05d5\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05ea\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d4\u05b7\u05d2\u05b0\u05bc\u05d3\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc\u05b8\u05d4. \u05e7\u05b0\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b5\u05d9 \u05e0\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e9\u05b5\u05c1\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc, \u05e0\u05b8\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05b4\u05d9\u05dc\u05b8\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd, \u05d0\u05b8\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b4\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea, \u05d0\u05b7\u05d7\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05d7\u05b8\u05d9\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d5\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05d0\u05b8\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b7\u05d7\u05b5\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc, \u05e0\u05b6\u05e2\u05b6\u05e7\u05b0\u05e8\u05d5\u05bc \u05de\u05b4\u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05db\u05b5\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc. \u05d4\u05b5\u05dd \u05dc\u05bb\u05e7\u05b0\u05bc\u05d7\u05d5\u05bc \u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e9\u05b6\u05bc\u05c1\u05d1\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b4\u05e7\u05b0\u05bc\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u05b5\u05d9\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd \u05dc\u05b9\u05d0 \u05e0\u05d5\u05b9\u05d3\u05b8\u05e2\u05d5\u05bc. \u05d4\u05b1\u05d9\u05b5\u05d4 \u05e0\u05b8\u05d0 \u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 \u2013 \u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05d3\u05b7\u05bc\u05d9 \u2013 \u05de\u05b8\u05d2\u05b4\u05e0\u05b8\u05bc\u05dd \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05dc \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05bc\u05c1\u05d1\u05d5\u05bc\u05d9\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd, \u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05de\u05b9\u05e8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05dc\u05b5\u05d9\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd \u05de\u05b4\u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc \u05e6\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e6\u05d5\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05d4, \u05ea\u05b5\u05bc\u05df \u05dc\u05b8\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd \u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u05d7\u05b7 \u05dc\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b9\u05d3 \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05d9\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd, \u05d5\u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05b0\u05e6\u05b5\u05d0 \u05dc\u05b8\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd \u05d7\u05b4\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea, \u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b7\u05e2\u05b7\u05df \u05d9\u05b4\u05d6\u05b0\u05db\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc \u05dc\u05b8\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05d1 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b0\u05bc\u05d7\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea\u05b5\u05d9\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd. \u05d0\u05de\u05df.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod Almighty. Listen to the voice of our weeping and the sigh of our hearts. Our loved ones, women and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, have been torn from our midst. Be You – Almighty God \u2013 the guardian of all the captives, protect them from all trouble and distress, give them strength to endure torment and grant them life, so they may merit return to their families. Amen.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dearest Holocaust survivors, United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ant\u00f3nio Guterres \u2014 I thank you for this meaningful invitation, President of this session of the General Assembly \u2014 His Excellency Mr. Phil\u00e9mon Yang, ermanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations – His Excellency Mr. Danny Danon, Ladies and gentlemen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Precisely eighty years ago today, on January 27th<\/sup>, 1945, the gates of hell collapsed. Auschwitz, the largest and most vicious death factory in human history, was liberated by the Soviet Union\u2019s Red Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many other death camps, the horror continued for months, until they were liberated by the Allied forces \u2013 the Red army, the American Army, the British Army and the heroic armies of many other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six million Jews, one-third of the Jewish people at that time \u2013 were systematically slaughtered by the Nazis and their collaborators. It was history’s most monstrous, sadistic premeditated and meticulously executed mass murder: Murder in gas chambers, in crematoriums, in ghettos, in death valleys, in death marches, in death camps. In the darkest, most abhorrent chapter in human history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shmuel Gogol was born in Poland in 1924. After arriving at the Warsaw orphanage run by the great Polish-Jewish educator Janusz Korczak, Shmuel was given a small harmonica as a gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When he was taken to Auschwitz, he took the harmonica with him, but it was confiscated immediately upon arrival. When Shmuel discovered that another prisoner had a harmonica, he gave up his bread rations, to hold the instrument once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, in the heart of darkness, between the cracks of fear and despair, the melody of an orphaned Jewish child’s soul burst out, a melody that would not allow hope to fade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One day, a Nazi guard heard the melody of the harmonica. He ordered Shmuel to participate in the Auschwitz “Death Orchestra”\u2013 to play music while Jews were marched to their horrific death in the gas chambers. “When my cousins marched to their death in front of me”, Gogol recounted, “I closed my eyes and said ‘enough. I cannot look anymore.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n There, in those moments, he vowed: If he survived, he would dedicate his life to teaching music to children. From the darkest and cruelest of hours, emerged a message of hope and determination \u2013 to revive the melody of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shmuel immigrated to Israel, and taught harmonica for many years. He returned to Auschwitz in 1990 on an emotional journey, alongside pupils from the Harmonica Orchestra he established in Israel \u2013 and played there, for the first time, with his eyes open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a well-known Hebrew phrase: \u05f4\u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05e0\u05d2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d4\u05d6\u05d0\u05ea \u05d0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05e4\u05e9\u05e8 \u05dc\u05d4\u05e4\u05e1\u05d9\u05e7\u05f4 \u2014 “this melody cannot be stopped.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wail of the harmonica \u2013 the melody Gogol played in the Holocaust, became the melody of Jewish rebirth and revival! The sounds of horror, grief and death, became – through the courage of many, including the survivors of the Holocaust – sounds of building, of life, of faith and of hope; the sounds of the State of Israel. Sounds of eyes wide open, of a nation rising from dust and devastation, a nation continuing to live \u2013 with all its beauty and strength. The nation of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tragically, in November 2023, just a few weeks after the October 7th<\/sup> massacre, Shmuel Gogol’s great-grandson \u2013 IDF Captain Asaf Master \u2013 fell in a heroic battle in the Gaza Strip.He died defending Israeli citizens \u2013 of all faiths and beliefs \u2013 and fighting against terror in its darkest and most barbaric form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The story of heroism, the story of fighting to live, of justice and humanity, of the eternity of the Jewish people \u2013 carries on from generation to generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ladies and Gentlemen, the Holocaust was the single most catastrophic disaster in the history of our people, and the history of all humanity. Yet from this unthinkable wreckage emerged a voice resounding throughout the family of nations. A voice calling for repair, healing, and building together; A voice that led to the founding of the United Nations and the International Courts, and to the establishment of the State of Israel. An act supported by the family of nations, an act of historical justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am privileged that a relative of mine took part in these foundational processes. Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, the uncle of my mother, Aura, was a proud Jew whose family perished in the Holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He served on the team that prosecuted the Nuremberg trials against Nazi leaders and officialswho plotted and executed the greatest genocide in the history of mankind – the genocide of the Jewish people. The Shoah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Lauterpacht helped establish the International Court of Justice \u2013 later serving on its bench as a judge. The man who saw, with his very own eyes in the Nuremberg courtroom the cruelest of human beings \u2013 the Nazis who annihilated his family and sought to erase his people- this man was also the one who first formulated the legal definition of Crimes Against Humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did so out of deep faith – and hope, that the international institutions would forever be committed to preventing these heinous crimes from ever happening again – to the Jewish people or any other people, and committed to delivering justice for the sake of all humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this moral and ethical lighthouse has been eroded time and time again. I recall such a moral lapse in November of 1975, when the United Nations General Assembly despicably declared the Jewish people’s national movement \u2013 Zionism \u2013 a form of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recall how fifty years ago, right here at this very podium stood my father Chaim Herzog as Israel\u2019s Ambassador to the United Nations. He would later become the Sixth President of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My father served as a British officer in WWII, liberating and rescuing Jews from Nazi death camps including Bergen-Belsen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He stood here on the memorial night of Kristallnacht \u2014 in which Nazi stormtroopers attacked Jewish communities, burned 1,500 (fifteen hundred) synagogues, murdered and jailed thousands of Jews throughout the Nazi\u2019s Third Reich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he delivered his monumental speech advocating for the entire Jewish people, my father tore up UN resolution 3379, calling out the hatred, ignorance, and lies that enabled such a disgrace. It took 16 years for this assembly to revoke that shameful resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today we find ourselves yet again at a dangerous crossroads in the history of this institution.Rather than fulfilling its purpose, and fighting courageously against a global epidemic of jihadist, murderous, and abhorrent terror, time and again this assembly has exhibited moral bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International forums and institutions such as the International Criminal Court opt for outrageous hypocrisy and protection of the perpetrators of the atrocities. They blur the distinction between good and evil, creating a distorted symmetry between the victim and the murderous monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ask you – How is this possible !?\u00a0How is it possible\u00a0that international institutions,\u00a0which began as an Anti-Nazi alliance, are allowing Anti-Semitic genocidal doctrines\u00a0to flourish uninterrupted in the wake of the largest massacre of Jews\u00a0since World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How is it possible that the moral compass of so many in the family of nations\u00a0has become so disoriented, that they no longer recognize the clear truth: That just as terrorists use civilians as human shields, they also\u00a0weaponize the international institutions, undermining the most basic, fundamental reason for their establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How is it possible that the same institutions established in the wake of the greatest genocide in history \u2013 the Holocaust – are manipulating the definition of genocide for the sole purpose of attacking Israel and the Jewish people. Doing so by embracing the despicable phenomenon of Holocaust Inversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to be clear: We know for a fact,\u00a0based on evidence,\u00a0that the October 7th<\/sup>\u00a0terrorists\u00a0drew inspiration from Hitler and the Nazis, and acted with all their cruelty\u00a0to destroy our nation State of Israel\u00a0and its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the issue, ladies and gentlemen,\u00a0is much deeper and reaches far beyond\u00a0the October 7th<\/sup> massacre.\u00a0We have all witnessed\u00a0a huge volcano of Anti-Semitism\u00a0erupt following the massacre. This alarming reality\u00a0was also reflected\u00a0in the important report\u00a0the United Nations just published\u00a0about Anti-Semitism. This is an urgent wake-up call\u00a0for all of humanity:\u00a0Anti-Semitism, savagery, cruelty,\u00a0and racism are still thriving on our planet.\u00a0They are thrivingbecause far too many states represented here do not confront them, do not unanimously condemn them,\u00a0do not fight against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more outrageous, is a UN member state \u2014 Iran, explicitly scheming and acting to destroy a fellow UN member state \u2013 the State of Israel. Iran\u2019s fanatical leadership turned its country into a hub of Anti-Semitism, hatred and terror It is developing weapons of mass destruction aimed at annihilating the one and only national home of the Jewish people, born out of the ashes of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world cannot continue turning a blind eye to the global threat posed by Iran \u2014 both directly and through its proxies, and to the danger represented by Jihadist terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enabling realization of these threats signals to past generations that we failed to learn the lessons of history, and signals to future generations that our battles – will soon become theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05bfThis is a moment of truth for us all: We either bow our heads \u2013 or unite and take action to halt the danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, we must – all of us \u2013 fight together, shoulder to shoulder and with all our might against Anti-Semitism, terror and hatred. We must fight against the misuse of international institutionsas a vehicle threatening the very existence and right to self-defense of the nation state of the Jewish people – the State of Israel. Under no circumstances will we accept any challenge to the Jewish people’s legitimate right to self-determination in our land \u2013 in the State of Israel. It is time to acknowledge: Challenging our right to exist is not diplomacy, it is plain Anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eighty years after the Holocaust, I stand here with deep faith and hope. Our nation rose from the flames of the crematorium, not to live forever by the sword \u2014but to build, to repair, to add light, to heal. We have stood strong against our enemies’ assaults, and we have always done so \u2013 as we do today \u2013 in full compliance with international law and humanitarian norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And no less important \u2013 we have forged alliances and peace treaties that have transformed the Middle East. I pray for the day we will achieve peace with more and more nations in our region;and that all peoples of the Middle East\u2014 Israelis, Palestinians, and all others, will live peacefully, side by side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the ashes of Auschwitz, we built a resilient, diverse democratic society \u2013 composed of a magnificent mosaic of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Circassians and people of many faiths and lifestyles; And we have contributed to humanity, in countless fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Israel\u2019s Declaration of Independence \u2013 along with extending our hand for peace \u2013 we have committed our nation to the values of liberty, equality, and justice, in faithful adherence to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is because we believe in the power of partnership – particularly partnership between nations and peoples\u2013 to heal and build. A partnership which we belong to – by merit,not by anyone’s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this historic day, we must commit to joining hands to defeat darkness and hatred, and work together to ensure the building of a shared future. This is the vow we must share, all of us, the family of nations: That what happened once, will never happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ladies and Gentlemen, Ninety-four year old Eva Arben defeated death three times. As a childin the Theresienstadt Ghetto. As a young girl who marched in a horrific death march from Auschwitz. And this year – as a citizen of Israel – under the barrage of thousands of rocketsfired from Gaza to Israel, on her city – Ashkelon. This terror attack took her back eighty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Eva refused to leave her home. As she said to me just days ago, articulating profound words of faith: “If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant a tree today. I would plant it with tears, but I would plant a tree.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the spirit of Eva, in the spirit of all heroic Holocaust survivors, we will remember the past, hold onto life, and never give up. We will continue planting tree after tree, today and tomorrow.Trees of life, of future, of hope. Trees that symbolize fervent faith in the human spirit triumphing over darkness, in spite of it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know the journey may be long, but I am full of hope \u2013 hope about us, about our partnership, and about the days yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May the memory of our sisters and brothers murdered in the Holocaust \u2013 be blessed and engraved upon the heart of all humanity for eternity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05e2\u05dd \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05d7\u05d9!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Near my heart, I wear a yellow pin. A pin that symbolizes anticipation, hope, and a resounding cry to all humanity: bring back our tortured children and elderly, our women and men, from the tunnels of terror in Gaza \u2013 home, to Israel. We call it “The Hostages Pin.” On the massacre of October 7th, 2023 Hamas terrorists attacked our people, they murdered, raped and mutilated women, tortured, beheaded and burned innocent people and entire families, and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children. Amongst our sisters and brothers kidnapped was Omer Neutra, an Israeli and American citizen, whose","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speeches"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n