A crowd of more than 18,000 pro-Israel advocates gathered in Washington D.C. on March 4 to 6 for the 2018 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. This year, the annual conference included the participation of student activists from all 50 US states, more than half of the Senate, a third of the House of Representatives, as well as countless Israeli and American policymakers and thought leaders.
Breaking Israel News is eager to bring you the best quotes from the most prominent speakers of the conference so that you don’t miss a beat:
Jimmy Morales
President of the Republic of Guatemala
On the decision to move the Guatemala embassy to Jerusalem:
“In May of this year, we will celebrate Israel’s 70th anniversary, and under my instructions two days after the US will move its embassy, Guatemala will return and permanently move its embassy to Jerusalem.
“This decision strongly evidences Guatemala’s continued support of Israel.
“We are sure that many other countries will follow in our steps.”
Mike Pence
Vice President of the United States
On the peace process:
“As we gather here, our team – Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, and our great ambassador [David Friedman] – are hard at work crafting our administration’s vision for peace. And while any peace will undoubtedly require compromise, know this: The United States of America will never compromise the safety and security of the Jewish State of Israel.
“The winds of change are blowing across the Middle East. Old foes are finding new ground for cooperation.”
“Dangerous provocations will not go unchecked by Israel, America, or our allies. […] Unless the Iran nuclear deal is fixed in the coming months, the United States will withdraw from the deal immediately.”
“We will not allow the defeat of ISIS to become a victory for Iran […] The U.S. will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”
On the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem:
“President Trump made his decision in the best interests of the United States, and this decision is also in the best interests of peace. We chose facts over fiction, and facts are the only foundation for a true and lasting peace. The United States remains fully committed to achieving a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. If both sides agree, the United States of America will support a two-state solution.”
Ambassador Nikki R. Haley
US Permanent Representative to the United Nations
On Working in the United Nations:
“When I come to AIPAC, I am with friends. And at the UN, we don’t usually have very many friends.
“At the UN and throughout the UN agencies, Israel does get bullied. It gets bullied because the countries that don’t like Israel are used to being able to get away with it. That just doesn’t sit well with me.”
“My father wore a Turban and my mother wore a Sari, I stood up to bullying then, and I will stand up to bullying Israel at the UN.”
“Some of you might have seen that the top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, recently had some advice for me. He told me to shut up. Mr. Erekat, I will always be respectful, but I will never shut up.”
“The UN spends more than half of its time singling out one country. We will not stand for it any longer.”
“We will not tolerate a situation that a world body of 198 countries can spend half their time attacking one country: Israel. What used to be a monthly Israel bashing session now at least has more balance. But we’re never going to put up with bullying.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of the State of Israel
On Isolationism:
“You remember people talked about Israel’s isolation? You remember that? Israel’s isolation? Pretty soon, the countries that don’t have relations with us, they’re going to be isolated. There are those who talk about boycotting Israel? We’ll boycott them.”
On Iran:
“If I have a message for you today, it’s a very simple one: We must stop Iran. We will stop Iran.
“Last week, we read in the Book of Esther about an earlier Persian attempt to exterminate our people. [Referring to the Jewish holiday of Purim] They failed then. They’ll fail now.
“[The day will come] when this horrible tyranny will disappear, will perish from the earth and at that point, the historic friendship between the people of Israel and the people of Persia will be reestablished. Today we have Haman. Tomorrow we’ll have Cyrus and friendship and peace.”
On the peace process:
“I believe President Abbas should find better use for this money [referring to the Palestinian Authority’s payment of $350 million per year to terrorists and their families] to build, roads, schools, hospitals, factories. Build life, don’t pay death. Invest in life, invest in peace.”
On US-Israel Relations:
“What is this beautiful alliance [between the U.S. and Israel] made of? It’s made of our shared values. That’s the wellspring of the great alliance between our two countries.”
His Excellency Edi Rama
Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania
On Albania-Jewish-Israel Relations:
“I’m very honored and very humbled to speak in front of your audience as the Prime Minister of Albania, a country where there were more Jews after the Second World War than before. And the salvation of Jews during the Second World War is a very shining page of our history, but not the only one concerning the relations of Jews with Albania.
“Your ancestors came to find refuge in Albania three other times before – in the 1st century, in the 15th century, in the 70th century, and they always found it. So our relation with the State of Israel is very special and excellent and, of course, we want to see it develop and we want to see more happening between us.
“I want to share with you that I’m personally engaged to build a Jewish-Albanian friendship cultural center in the heart of Tirana, our capital city, and we have engaged the great author of the Holocaust Museum in Berlin, Daniel Libeskind, who is working with us for a project.
“Albania as a country of Muslims and Christians, but it’s also fully committed against terrorism and violent extremism, and this makes us natural allies in nowadays in a common front against these enemies. We are building in Tirana also a regional center against violent extremism, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has promised that Israel will be among the partners for making this center a point of reference in the whole region.”
