Knesset Speaker Rivlin celebrates 1st night of Hanukka at Cave of Patriarchs, reiterates Israel's claim to the city, J'lemKnesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin ushered in Hanukka Wednesday by reiterating that he makes no distinction between Hebron and Jerusalem regarding Israel’s claim to either city.
“By building Hebron, Jerusalem itself will be built,” Rivlin declared while participating in a candle-lighting ceremony at the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron, together with IDF soldiers, local Jewish leaders and yeshiva students. “We are not trespassers, we are not looters, and Hebron is not a coin that can be traded in the marketplace,” he added.
“Hebron was the birthplace of the kingdom of Israel and on Hanukka, independence was returned to Israel,” continued Rivlin. “Hebron was the basis of our right to the Land of Israel, as a moral right that has no superior, and the right of ownership that cannot be questioned; it was our right then and it is our right today.”
Rivlin also took a jab both at international criticism that Israel has no claim to the West Bank, as well as at Israeli leaders – including possibly Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – who are ready to relinquish control of any part of Israel.
“At the time of the Hanukka story, the leader of Israel, Shimon ben Matitiyahu stood with bravery, determination, and faith, against a foreign commissioner and a disconnected rule, and replied without any hesitation that, “We did not take a foreign land, nor the property of strangers to us, but rather the land of our forefathers which had been conquered in the past by enemies,” Rivlin addressed the audience. “Will we be able to stand by that today as well?” asked the speaker.
Rivlin argued that if Israel rescinded its claims to any part of Israel, it would eventually lead to de-legitimization of the state’s entire existence. “Today it is clearer than ever that if we ignore our 3,800 year-old right, we will find it difficult to defend our renewed independence that is only 62-years-old,” he warned. “If God forbid, we are seduced to think that we did take a foreign land, or the property of strangers in Ariel, in Ma’aleh Adumim, in Gush Etzion and in our capital Jerusalem, it is doubtful that we can continue to maintain our state.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Rivlin delivered a similar message, together with the leaders of the Knesset’s Land of Israel Lobby, MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and Coalition Chairman MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), as well as Danny Dayan, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
Source: JerusalemPost
