The Government's policy is clear:
* We maintain the settlement movement while upholding the law
* We maintain the settlement movement against a wave of pressures from at
home and abroad.
* We maintain the settlement movement and we do so while upholding the law

PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Memorial Ceremony for the Fallen of the
Altalena
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks today (Sunday, 10
June 2012), at the memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Altalena, at the
Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery
http://www.kadisha-tlv.co.il/ShowItem.aspx?levelId=59576
:

"My friends; Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, former Defense Minister and my
teacher Moshe Arens, MKs Ofir Akunis and Tzipi Hotovely, Irgun Soldiers
Alliance Chairman Yair Osiskovitz and Deputy Chairman Eli Shetrit, World
Zionist Organization Israel Department Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, bereaved
families, members of the Irgun, Betar Movement members, students and youth,
and honored guests.

We gather here every year and bow our heads in memory of the fallen of the
Altalena
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Altalena.html
We gather here every year and salute those members of the Irgun
http://www.etzel.org.il/english/index.html
who have passed on. They were dear people, pure of heart, who loved the Land
of Israel to the end, who were prepared to sacrifice body and spirit for our
homeland and for the independence of our people.

More than a few of you were on the Mt. of Olives. I stood with you four
months ago, at the memorial ceremony for the commander of the Irgun and one
of Israel's great prime ministers – the late Menachem Begin
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Menachem+Begin.htm
. During the tragedy of the Altalena, at the worst of the tragedy, Begin
determined a clear and simple principle: There would be no civil war. He
knew that civil war would be the end of the State of Israel. I hear the pain
and feel it; for over 60 years, the pain still cuts. Think of what
justification Begin had to act differently – the death of dear fighters who
only wanted to defend the homeland, a ship laden with weapons that could
have helped in the defense of the homeland, in liberating the homeland, in
defending Jerusalem, in defending the Jewish communities – today we would
say "the settlement movement', what justification he had! But Begin did not
think twice. He did not hesitate for a moment. He determined a clear
principle: There would be no civil war. And this principle that he
determined at the dawn of our independence has stood for 64 years. It is
valid today. It will always be valid.

We have one state, one government, one army. In the State of Israel, the
Government, and only the Government, sets policy. In the State of Israel,
all are bound by the law, including the Government and the Prime Minister.

The Government's policy is clear:
* We maintain the settlement movement while upholding the law
* We maintain the settlement movement against a wave of pressures from at
home and abroad.
* We maintain the settlement movement and we do so while upholding the law

and I tell you my dear friends – there is no contradiction between the two.

On the contrary – undermining the rule of law will hurt and weaken the
settlement movement while upholding the rule of law strengthens it.

Menachem Begin understood this at the time of the Altalena and we understand
it very well today.

May the memory of the fallen of the Altalena be blessed and enshrined in the
hearts of the people forever."