"A binational state contradicts the vision of Herzl, it endangers the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel."
“There is a chance to renew the peace process, and it is not to be missed. We welcome the arrival of Secretary of State Kerry, to Israel. This is an effort to revive the process and we will all help it to suceed.”
The President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres, delivered remarks this morning at the State Memorial Ceremony in memory of Benjamin Zeev (Theodor) Herzl. President Peres addressed Secretary of State Jon Kerry's peace initiative, and Herzl's Zionist vision that Israel will live in peace with its neighbors: "Peace is a moral foundation of Judaism, it is an existential need of the Jewish state. A binational state contradicts the vision of Herzl, it endangs the Jewish and democratic state of Israel. There is a chance to renew the peace process, and it is not to be missed. We welcome the arrival of Secretary of State Kerry, to Israel. This is an effort to revive the process and we will all help it to succeed.”
President Peres stressed that the Zionist vision of Herzl, has the values of peace at its core, and said: "Herzl was right in his belief that the Jewish State is a necessity. The curse of rising anti-Semitism, the rise of Nazism and the terrible Holocaust proved Herzl's tragic forecast to be right. Herzl was also right that the establishment of the Jewish State as an act of historical justice, the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination, and sovereignty in their homeland, and therefore Herzl spoke of the Jewish state and not just a state for Jews. Because for the state to be a country for the Jews, it should have a majority of Jews. The historic right to a state alone does not sufficiently establish the political reality.
