“No Jew has the right to give up the right of the Jewish nation to flourish in Eretz Yisrael. No Jewish body of people has any such right. Even all the Jews alive today do not have the authority to give up even a single plot of land. That is the right reserved for the Jewish nation throughout the ages, and it cannot be given up under any circumstances. Even if at some future date there are Jews who declare that they are giving up this right, they will enjoy neither the strength nor the authority to deny future generations the right to Eretz Yisrael. The Jewish nation is neither responsible for nor subject to any such concessions. Our right to this land, in its entirety, is valid and operative for all time, and until the Final Redemption, we shall not budge from this historic right.”

David Ben Gurion at the 21st Zionist Congress at Basel in 1937.
Jerusalem, December 3, 1999

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2005 and is filed under quotables.