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GATEWAYS
Bibi Takes Tough Stand,
Vows No Nukes For Iran
Story and Photos by Tim Boxer
ENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Likud leader and
former Israeli prime minister, brought good news and bad news to the
Gateways 10th anniversary gala at the Waldorf. What do
you want to hear first?
"Bad news!" the crowd shouted.
"This is definitely a Jewish audience,"
Netanyahu observed.
Among the crowd were such worthies as Ingeborg
and Ira Rennert, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Sen. Eric
Cantor of Virginia, Nan Chani Rakower, Malcolm Hoenlein
of the Presidents Conference, IDT’s Howard Jonas, CBS News
correspondent Dan Raviv, Robert Hormats, vice chairman
of Goldman Sachs International, and Lt. Col. (res.) Yedidya Atlas,
rabbi of IDF Ground Forces.
Nevertheless Netanyahu offered good news first. We’re
in the midst of an explosion of prosperity. All governments have two
choices: reform the economy now or wait and reform later.
As minister of finance under Ariel Sharon,
Netanyahu reformed Israel’s economy to propel it into the 21st
century.
"It was painful for people and politically
painful for me, and we paid for it. But now ours is the strongest
economy in the world."
The bad news, he said, was the challenge of militant
Islam to the entire civilized world. "We stand in their way to
create a caliphate, where there is no place for us, America and
Europe."
As for Iran seeking to build a nuclear arsenal,
Netanyahu declared, "Listen carefully to what I say: Iran will
not acquire nuclear weapons."
Now that Gaza has turned into Hamastan, an Iranian
base in the south, and Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon is an Iranian
base in the north, Netanyahu warned against a third Iranian base in
the middle of the country – especially in East Jerusalem.
"If we walk out, Hamas comes in, then Iran,
then al-Qaeda. It will become a Mecca for terrorists."
Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, founding director of
Gateways, which provides retreats to reconnect Jews with their
heritage, installed Celia and Paul Sirotkin as life chairs.
Rachel Oestreicher-Bernheim, chair of the Raoul
Wallenberg Committee of the USA, and Rabbi Suchard presented the
Raoul Wallenberg Award to Elliott Broidy, chair of Markstone
Capital Partners.
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