Date: Thursday, October 10, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

Israel, Iran & Yom Kippur

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the annual Yom Kippur War memorial ceremony. As you may know, Israel's Arab enemies attempted to catch Israel off guard in 1973 by attacking the Jewish state on Yom Kippur. (Imagine America being attacked on Christmas or Easter.) The Arab offensive was initially successful, but Israel rallied and ultimately prevailed in what was the fourth major war against Israel by Arab nations.

Today, the threat to Israel does not come from its Arab neighbors. Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and its relations with other Arab states have dramatically improved in recent years. The reason is that the main threat to Israel now comes from Iran, which is also threatening other Arab states throughout the Middle East.

Below are excerpts of Prime Minister Netanyahu's address:

"The current focus of aggression in the Middle East is the Iranian regime in Tehran. Iran is striving to tighten its grip in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

"It is relentlessly arming itself. It is equipping its proxies with dangerous weaponry. It is attacking freedom of navigation in international shipping lanes. It downed a large American UAV. It mounted a crude and unprecedented attack on Saudi oil fields. It has repeatedly crossed its threshold of brazenness.

"Iran threatens to wipe us off the map. It says explicitly: 'Israel will disappear.' It has tried to attack us repeatedly; therefore, we must stand ready to defend ourselves against danger.

"We do not aspire to be 'a people that dwells alone' but thus we were forced to stand at the start of the Yom Kippur War; only towards the end did the American aid arrive. Like in 1973, today we very much appreciate the important support of the U.S., which has greatly increased in recent years, as well as the major economic pressure that the U.S. is using on Iran.

"Even so, we will always remember and implement the basic rule that has guided us; Israel will defend itself, by itself, against any threat.

"The IDF is prepared to pre-empt any threat, defensively and offensively, with crushing strength, in weaponry and in spirit. This is the tremendous spirit that was instilled in us by the generation of the Yom Kippur War."

In related news, Israeli leaders were quick to condemn yesterday's terrorist attack on a German synagogue. Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

"The terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Halle Germany on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our people, is additional testimony that anti-Semitism in Europe is increasing. . . I call on the German authorities to continue taking determined action against anti-Semitism."

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said:

"I call on the leaders of Germany and the Free World to bring the full force of law against anti-Semitism and its results. We will continue to campaign for education and remembrance in the fight on anti-Semitism, which raises its head again and again in Europe and across the world, based on a the clear understanding that it is not a problem of the Jews alone, but threatens to destroy us all."

Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted:

"I am deeply shocked about the terror attack outside a synagogue in Germany which reminds me of dark periods in Jewish history. I call on the German government . . . to intensify the struggle against anti-Semitism and bring the perpetrators to justice."