NOSES WENT OUT of joint and knickers got in a twist when Israelâ??s new deputy foreign minister delivered her inaugural speech to the Jewish stateâ??s diplomatic corps.
â??We need to get back to the basic truth of our right to this land,â? said Tzipi Hotovely, who is running the foreign ministryâ??s day-to-day operations, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retains the title of foreign minister. The land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, she declared, and their claim to it is as old as the Bible. â??Itâ??s important to say thisâ? when making Israelâ??s case before the world, she said, and not to focus solely on Israelâ??s security interests. Of course security is a profound concern, Hotovely observed, but arguments grounded in justice, morality, and deep historical rights are stronger. She even quoted the medieval Jewish sage Rashi, who wrote that Genesis opens with Godâ??s creation of the world to preempt any subsequent charge that the Jewish claim to the land was without merit.
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