Sep. 26, 2005 Sharon’s planned speech to the Likud central committee
Good evening, all. We live in a state in which security incidents follow political ones, and sometimes these events become muddled together. Since yesterday I have been hearing the commentators "commotion,‘ that of the experts, the close associates, those close to the close associates, and the journalists close to the latter. One says, ’it will improve his standing in the central committee‘; a second says ’it will give him one more percent,‘ ’he enjoys it,‘ ’the other one enjoys it." To each his own interpretation, each person and his notions.
Gentlemen, I suggest we all relax. Yesterday’s attack on my neighbors in Sderot and in the western Negev was extremely severe…. If we don’t have quiet, neither will Gaza. All that is needed will be done. Period.
…Tomorrow’s vote is not a technical one; it is an attempt to expel me, and it is an expression of no confidence in the way in which the Likud has led the country. All because of vindictiveness and boundless personal ambition.
This would be suicide that would spell the end of the Likud, and would lead it to only one place: the opposition.
Tomorrow we will have to decide which path we will choose, and what Likud we desire. We will determine whether this will be a Likud which is supported by national consensus or an extremists’ Likud that is relegated to the margins. A large, influential ruling party or a small powerless opposition party, like the one I received six years ago.
I founded the real Likud under the late Menachem Begin’s leadership. I served in his government when he established a coalition with the Democratic Movement for Change, when he invited Moshe Dayan into his government, when he waged a relentless, uncompromising war against terror and the enemies’ nuclear armament, when he signed the peace accords with Egypt, and when he made the painful decision to evacuate and raze the Jewish settlements in the Sinai Peninsula.
This is the real Likud. A large, central, liberal-nationalist movement, which strives for national unity, which is not deterred by difficult decisions and painful concessions, which does not give in to political pressure, which always leads responsibly, moderately, always with the national interest in mind.
Only thus can the affairs of the state be managed: maintaining security, defeating terrorism, and advancing towards peace. Without shouts and slogans. That is what our million voters want. That is what Israel needs — leadership, stability, responsibility, moderation….
According to the road map the Palestinians must destroy the terrorist infrastructure, disarm the terrorist organizations, carry out extensive reforms, and stop incitement. Only if they fulfill these obligations will negotiations be possible.
Today the world is applying pressure on the Palestinians to accomplish all these tasks because Israel has proven its determination for peace. It is now the other side’s turn to act.
If, and only if, the Palestinian side will truly act and will stop, once and for all, the terrorist war and incitement against Israel, will we be able to proceed to diplomatic negotiations.
We must state the truth that everyone knows: when the time comes, we will not retain everything. We have a dream; it is good and just. But there is also reality which is tough and demanding. We cannot both manage a democratic Jewish state and rule over the entire land of Israel.
If we insist on fulfilling the dream in its entirety, we are liable to lose it all. Everything. That is where the extremist path takes us.
Today we must invest all our efforts in what is possible, in what is vital. First and foremost, to continue securing our hold on Jerusalem — the unified and undividible, eternal capital of the State of Israel. To complete the security fence that will thwart any attempt to attack us in the depths of the country. To fortify the large settlement blocs, the Jordan Valley and buffer zones, the Negev, the Galilee and Golan Heights.
We still have many things left to do for the Israeli nation — broadening and improving education, fighting relentlessly against the violence which has taken root in our society, and most of all, struggling against poverty and minimizing the social gaps….
These are the things ahead of us. This is the real way of the Likud. This is what Israel needs today, and this is what I plan to do. I plan to continue and lead the Likud on this path.
The decision is yours, central committee members, regarding where the Likud is headed: A small Likud, extremist and oppositional, or a grand Likud, strong, central, leading the country responsibly and reasonably.
I am calling on you to make the right decision. To come tomorrow and reject the proposal towards expulsion and suicide. For the good of the Likud, for the good of the people, for the good of Israel.
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