Celebrating Jerusalem in London

Press Release: 21 May 2009

"Israel did not achieve Independence in 1948 but in 1967." This was the emphatic statement of Yechiel Leiter, guest speaker at Likud-Herut's annual Yom Yerushalayim event in North London on Wednesday evening. A former chief of staff to Benjamin Netanyahu and aide to Ariel Sharon, Leiter is currently a "think tank" member of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs. He stated that the Six Day War was nothing short of a miracle and should never be diluted by historians as being anything less. Also an ordained rabbi, Leiter quoted from Tanach and the Midrash to demonstrate forcefully that Israel's most stunning victories are achieved when following the wishes of the Almighty to settle the land and face down the enemies of the Jewish people. By contrast, Israel's most difficult times and setbacks have arisen from signing onto hollow peace agreements like Oslo and the uprooting of Jewish families in the South.

Leiter used the event, co-sponsored by One Jerusalem, the JNF and Ner Yisrael, to warn that the Iranian threat to the Jewish nation should not be understated and needed to be impressed on all levels of the community. In his introductory speech, JNF's UK chairman Shmuel Hayek recalled the gloom that had settled over Israel 30 years ago, during the Nixon presidency and the "Rogers Plan" which proposed a unilateral withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders without meaningful commitments from the Arabs. He remembered his father reassuring him at the time saying: "50 years from now no-one will remember who Rogers was, but the State of Israel will still be thriving".

The traditional tehillim and emotional remembrance prayer for those who fell in the liberation of Jerusalem were recited by Chazan Moshe Haschel of the St John's Wood synagogue.

Photo of Yechiel Leiter at: http://www.facebook.com/people/Yechiel-Leiter/1627126643