Barak: Peace requires brave decisions

Defense minister speaks at Remembrance Day ceremony in TA Uni.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
ehud barak 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
ehud barak 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
“On May 14, 1948, our first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, announced the establishment of the State of Israel. The newborn state was immediately cast into the reality of an existential war, a war that has been part of the lives of the people of Israel from that moment until today,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday in a ceremony at Tel Aviv University ahead of Israel’s Remembrance Day, which takes place Monday.
“In 62 years of independence, the state withstood difficult challenges and succeeded only through the fact that in every generation the finest of its young were ready and willing to put their lives on the line to defend the state. These were the fallen, your loved ones, dear families,” Barak said.
Barak also referred to the issue of draft dodging, saying that “servicein the IDF is a duty but it is also a great privilege. Over the yearsof our struggle for existence in this land, thousands of young men andyoung women chose to stay here, take our destiny in our hands andfulfill the privilege of fighting for our liberty and sovereignty. Thefew who abandon the country or who dodge military service onlyemphasize the verity and essence of this choice.”
Barak said that as defense minister he was convinced that Israel willachieve peace with the Palestinians, in the framework of the UnitedStates’ Road Map and the two-state solution.
Only such an agreement, Barak said, would “ensure a Jewish majority forgenerations, in clear borders and an end of conflict and claims.” Hesaid this would necessitate “great and brave decisions, cooperationwith the international community and close ties with the US.”