Text of Netanyahu's Statement at HaNassi

The following is the text of Bibi Netanyahu's statement on Friday February 20, 2009, after receiving the charge from President Shimon Peres to form the next government.

Mr President,

I deeply appreciate your lifelong commitment to the State of Israel and your tireless work on its behalf, which have continued these past few days.

I accept the task you have assigned me with humility and with a profound appreciation for the enormous responsibility that you have placed upon me -- the responsibility to achieve security for our country, peace with our neighbors and unity among our people.

Mr. President,

As President of Israel, as a great Israeli patriot, you have rightly spoken of the need, also expressed by most members of the Knesset, for unity.

Because at this fateful hour, the state of Israel faces enormous challenges. Iran is developing nuclear weapons and poses the greatest threat to our existence since our War of Independence. Iran’s terror proxies confront us in the North and South and the worst global economic crisis in the last 80 years threatens the jobs and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.

For many decades, Israel has not faced an accumulation of so many great challenges at one time.

Faced with such extraordinary challenges, we need a new attitude, a different attitude, an attitude that expresses national unity.

These great challenges obligate us to work together and to unite all the forces within our people. I call on the members of all the parties, both those who recommended me [to the President] and those who did not recommend me, to put politics aside and to place the good of the country first.

I turn first of all to the chairwoman of Kadima, Tzipi Livni and the chairman of the Labor Party, Ehud Barak and say, let’s join hands and work together to secure the future of the State of Israel.

I ask to meet with you first to discuss forming a national unity government for the sake of our people and the country.

I know that we have different approaches on many important issues but I also know that we are all committed to working for the benefit of our country and our common future.

That is why I believe that, given the seriousness of the hour and the needs of our country, we can find common ground and a common path that will lead Israel to security, prosperity and peace.

The great tragedies in the history of our people happened when we did not unite in the face of great challenges. But the opposite is true as well. The great victories occurred when we put our differences aside and stood together as one during moments of truth. Today, we face such a moment of truth.

Let us unite, let us join together and ensure our future, our children’s future and our country’s future.

www.en.netanyahu.org.il