00:00 We are proud to be the United States' closest partner and friend.
00:04 We are grateful to the United States for the necessary means you have provided us to keep our qualitative military edge
00:13 and to enable us to defend ourselves by ourselves.
00:17 This reflects your ongoing commitment to Israel's security.
00:23 We are also tremendously proud that ours is a two-way alliance in which Israel has been making critical contributions
00:32 to the national security interests of the United States of America in numerous ways.
00:38 Thank you, dear members of Congress, for your support of Israel throughout history and at this critical moment in time.
00:47 Mr. Speaker, perhaps the greatest challenge Israel and the United States face at this time together is the Iranian nuclear program.
00:57 Let there be no doubt, Iran does not strive to attain nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
01:05 Iran has spread hatred, terror and suffering throughout the Middle East and beyond,
01:11 adding fuel to the disastrous fire and suffering in Ukraine.
01:16 Iran is the only nation on the planet publicly calling, plotting and developing means to annihilate another nation
01:26 and members of the family of nations, the State of Israel.
01:31 Allowing Iran to become a nuclear threshold state, whether by omission or by diplomatic commission, is unacceptable.
01:41 Many of the challenges Israel and the United States face are similar.
01:46 We are all experiencing a tumultuous shift in balance evident in countless areas.
01:53 Geopolitical unrest, big power competition, catastrophic war in Ukraine, pandemics, climate crisis,
02:03 the unknown of artificial intelligence, energy shortages, food insecurity, scarcity of water and desertification,
02:14 global terror, social polarization and the attempts to destabilize democracy.
02:21 Each of these challenges present an opportunity to seek out solutions together, which will benefit the global community.
02:30 Israel has the ability to contribute in a unique, significant fashion to addressing these challenges.
02:38 Israel and the United States are world leaders in aiding countries whose peoples have suffered.
02:44 Our collaborative capabilities, coupled with our mutual beneficial partnership, are the key to the future of our children.
02:53 To us it is clear that America is irreplaceable to Israel and Israel is irreplaceable to America.
03:01 I'm not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this house.
03:10 I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it.
03:18 But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the state of Israel's right to exist.
03:27 (audience applauding)
03:30 (audience applauding)
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