Speaker's Address at Mt. Herzl Ceremony
Independence Day 5764/2004

My brother and sisters of Israel,
"If you will it - it is no legend."
With these words, Theodor Herzl concluded his novel "Altneuland" about the
imaginary, Utopian Jewish State,
And with these simple words, Herzl turned his modest novel into a vision;
and his image was carved forever on the heart of the nation as a visionary.
- The visionary of the Jewish State.
Little by little, this vision grew.
First of all, with the modest, very existential, aspiration for any piece of
land. A safe haven.
A refuge from anti-Semitism - and this might even be Uganda.
And later, returning to the source, to Zion, and to the ancient oath, which
Herzl repeated:
"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - may my right hand forget her cunning"!

And the crown of this vision - was its realization;
As it became reality - through heroism and self-sacrifice,
On this day - fifty-six years ago.
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But what was the revolution led by Herzl?
- For the Jews had never stopped yearning for the land of Israel
from the day that [as we say in the Sabbath prayers] we were exiled from our
country and driven away from our land.
- For the Jews used to raise their eyes to look, and even used
their feet to walk, towards Zion, many years before Herzl.

Yet, nevertheless, we come to stand here by the tomb of Theodor Herzl, each
year, each 5th Iyar (at twilight, between the day of mourning and the day of
celebration, at the hour of the closing of the gates of tears and
remembrance) - in order to raise our flag once more to the top of the mast;
and to carry out this very special Israeli tradition, where the Yizkor
memorial prayer and the singing of the Hatikvah national anthem intermingle
and complement each other; the soft notes of the memorial tunes followed by
the proud fanfare at the raising of the flag.
We come back and stand here, as though we return each time to say to the
visionary of the State:
"See, the legend has become reality."
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"If you will it, it is no legend."

These words have enthralled us for more than a century.
These words are the pure expression of the revolution carried out by Herzl
for the generations to come.

It is to this revolution in the Jewish national consciousness, in the nation
's soul, that we return and declare our loyalty year by year.
And what is more natural than to do this here, on this day, by the tomb of
the man whose vision became reality?

"If you will it, it is no legend."

These words beat in its heart and drove its wheels, as Zionism succeeded
achieved the impossible, time after time.

When we willed it - the legend became reality.

When we willed it - the scattered exiles of Israel were gathered in.
When we willed it - from a small, fearful community, we became a proud
nation.
And when we willed it; when we really willed it - the Land was conquered,
and nobody stood in our way.
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But the story has not yet ended.

Even today; on the one hundredth anniversary of Herzl's death; in the
fifty-sixth year of the Independence of Israel; nothing is self-evident.
Even today, every day, we must continue to will it, we must continue to
believe.
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These past years have not been easy for us.
They were years of painful disillusionment,
from our natural, human, and so very Jewish expectation of a little peace
and quiet.

We discovered once again, and sometimes against our will, that independence
is an asset for which we must pay every day anew: with work, struggle and
blood.

Independence is an ongoing, demanding commitment by a nation that decides to
takes its fate into it own hands. In all areas.

In the reality of our lives here in Israel, we express our independence,
each day anew:
- We stand together, in the face of murderous terrorism, that does
not differentiate between its victims, and does not cease - but our spirit
is not broken;
- We courageously undertake a process of belt-tightening, of
adjusting our economy to the reality in which we live despite the heavy
social cost.
- We are in the midst of an ongoing, historic process of defining
who we are and what will be our borders.

Independence is not acquired only through battle, we cannot ensure it only
by military defence, it also needs moral and value-oriented decisions, and
the designing of an independent path, that is uniquely ours.

We must continue to form our own unique, independent pathway:
- Through the tension between being a democratic State of Law and
our duty to defend it and all its citizens;
- Through the tension between our commitment to the national
tradition, and the freedom of each one of us to live his life as he sees
fit;
- Through the tension between a free economy, and the human and
Jewish duty to ensure a life of dignity for everyone;
- And through the most difficult tension: between being a Jewish
State, the State of the Jewish People, and being a democratic state, of all
the citizens of Israel, without compromise.

The call of the Declaration of Independence continues to echo today:
"We appeal . . . to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel . . . to
participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal
citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent
institutions."

Indeed, the challenge of the democratic Jewish State, where both sides of
this equation must exist together, is especially difficult and demanding.
But this too is first and foremost in our hands; and if we will it - this
too will not be a legend, and with God's help - we shall succeed.

And I will recite one final prayer, with all my heart:
"Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of
Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it
with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace . . . Ordain peace in the
land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness."

Happy Independence Day, Israel.