MK Yair Lapid, one of the leaders of the Blue and White party, spoke at the ELNET conference in Paris and sent a message to anti-Semites around the world.
At the start of his remarks, Lapid quoted the late Israeli author Ephraim Kishon, who said, "The State of Israel was not established so that anti-Semitism will stop. It was established so we could tell the anti-Semites to shove it.”
Lapid continued, "The great anti-Semitic project, over the years, is to convince the world that anti-Semitism is the result of something the Jews have done. That anti-Semitism is a result, and there is a reason to justify it. Anti-Semitism never acknowledges what it really is: xenophobia.”
“The anti-Semites may be the same, but the Jews are not. We won't shut up. We are not going to try to appease them. We are here together, because the Jews are done being afraid. We are not afraid of them. We will fight back. In the legal arena, in the media, if force is to be exercised - the State of Israel knows how to do that too."
Lapid also discussed the hypocrisy of the world in the fight against anti-Semitism. "When you replace the excuse every time, you know it's a lie. It's something else every time, but it's always the same. They don't hate Jews for something the Jews did, but for what's inside them. This is evil, malicious and ugly. In recent years, the new excuse has come. It's because of Israel, it's because of its treatment of Palestinians, it's because of their concern for human rights.”
“They do not care about human rights, they are anti-Semitic. They were silent when Assad murdered half a million of his people. They were silent when more than four million people were killed in the Congo civil war. They are silent as Iran hangs gays from telephone poles. They only wake up when it comes to a democratic, law-abiding state that does what it can to preserve human life. Why? Because it's the Jews. And they hate Jews."
Lapid added, "We need to explain to humanity what it hears. It hears the voice of hate. The BDS movement is the voice of hate. The voices of protesters against Israel here in Paris, in London, on US campuses - are the voice of hate. The politicians who propose to boycott Israel and support terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah - are the voice of hate.”
“This is not a political debate. This is not an argument about Israel's policy towards the Palestinians. It's a years-old attempt to destroy and kill a small, talented people who insist on maintaining its unique character and voice. We are preparing to continue to insist on our voice. We will continue to sound it everywhere to tell the haters - the Jews are done being silent. The Jews are done being afraid. We know you, we know what you are, we will fight you."
