00:00In 1998, I hosted the Prime Minister of Turkey. His name was Ilmaz.
00:12We had wonderful relations with Turkey at the time.
00:17They have not withstood the test of time, but at the time they were very good.
00:24And after a wonderful dinner at the Prime Minister's residence, we had coffee in the living room.
00:36And I said, Prime Minister, I have a favor to ask you.
00:41And he said, yes, go ahead.
00:44And I said, there is a tablet, a stone tablet in Hebrew that was found in the tunnel that we have just, it's right here,
01:00that was dug 2,700 years ago by King Hezekiah.
01:03That's 300 years after King David.
01:06And it marks the place where two teams of diggers met, just as was described here, two teams of archaeological workers.
01:14They met when they dug this channel underneath Jerusalem to give it, to connect it to the water source,
01:22the water source and the pool of Silwam.
01:25It would be completely underground, safe from enemies.
01:28And when the two teams heard one another, they started digging towards each other.
01:35And at the place where they met and completed the tunnel, they put this tablet in Hebrew, the Bible speaking to us,
01:43because that channel, the digging of that channel is described in the Bible.
01:48And here we see that in biblical Hebrew, perhaps except the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most important archaeological discovery in Israel.
01:59And I said, look, I have a proposal for you.
02:01You know, we have thousands of Ottoman artifacts in our museums.
02:05Choose anyone you want.
02:08You can get it. It's yours.
02:11Let's do an exchange.
02:13And he said, no, I'm sorry, I can't do that.
02:16And I said, well, take all the artifacts in our museums.
02:22And he said, no, I can't do that.
02:25And I said, well, name your price.
02:28And he said, Prime Minister Netanyahu, there is no price.
02:33And I said, why?
02:35He said, well, there is a growing Islamist constituency headed by the then mayor of Istanbul.
02:41You know his name.
02:44And there would be outrage from this section of the Turkish people that we would give Israel a tablet that would show that Jerusalem was a Jewish city 2,700 years ago.
03:02Well, it was a Jewish city 3,000 years ago.
03:07And we just passed over here the shaft in which David's general, Joab, climbed with some brave soldiers to conquer the city from within.
03:18David declared it its capital.
03:21Jerusalem, D.C., David's capital.
03:24And here, right next to these stones and on these pavements, the prophets of Israel prophesized.
03:40The kings of Israel walked.
03:43The pilgrims came.
03:45And some of the most poetic psalms and prophecies and proverbs in the history of humanity were written, inspiring not only our people, but all of humanity.
04:01And this continued for a thousand years into the time of Jesus, a Jewish rabbi from the Galilee who came here to Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies.
04:11And he came here to that pool in Siloam to be purified, where he also performed the miracle of helping the blind see.
04:23And then he would walk up the road to this place.
04:30That was all brought to an end by the great rebellion of the Jews against the Romans in 70 A.D.
04:40And when we tread on these stones, you will find a hole there, some holes, because the Jews hid in the spaces below the stones.
04:52We found a Roman sword there.
04:55The Jews fought bravely, but the Romans were absolutely merciless.
05:03And they killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, including those hiding below the pilgrim's room.
05:12Now, 2,000 years later, we recovered our city.
05:20We recovered our independence.
05:22We built our sovereign state anew.
05:25We built an army.
05:27And we built a country like no other.
05:30But this country is based on those 2,000 years of yearning.
05:35Next year in Jerusalem.
05:37Next year in Jerusalem.
05:38It didn't matter if you were in the ghetto in Toledo or the ghetto in Warsaw.
05:45That's what Jews prayed for.
05:47Next year in Jerusalem.
05:49Well, we're here.
05:51This is our city.
05:53Mr. Erdogan, it's not your city.
05:56It's our city.
05:58It will always be our city.
06:01It will not be divided again.
06:03And that's why I so much appreciate the leadership of President Trump in this area as well.
06:10When he declared Jerusalem our capital, something that should have been acknowledged by every leader in the world, but he did it.
06:17And then moved the American embassy here.
06:20He did things that are so obvious and yet defied all these governments, all these foreign chancelleries, all these experts who said, you cannot do that.
06:34He called me up before he did it and he asked, what do you think?
06:39I said, well, you know, would there be riots?
06:44Would there be bloodshed?
06:45I said, I don't think so.
06:47But if there will be, it will be primarily directed at us and we are definitely ready.
06:53So he just did it.
06:56And I welcome today Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who understands that this is the foundation of our common Judeo-Christian heritage.
07:10It is being challenged today.
07:12It's being challenged by a growing Islamist force.
07:17It's being challenged by the unity of the Islamists with the ultra-left.
07:22They both deny our patrimony.
07:24They both deny our heritage.
07:26And they are putting all the pressure on European leaders and others who weak-kneed,
07:38are suggesting that we divide Jerusalem.
07:43They're suggesting that we plant a Palestinian state committed to our destruction right here.
07:50And we say any unilateral action can be met with unilateral action.
07:55This is our city.
07:57It is forever our city.
08:00It will never be divided again and there will be no Palestinian state.
08:04And with that brief commercial, I want to thank the donors, the diggers, the people who committed so much of their lives to this incredible foundation of our civilization and of the Jewish people.
08:26You deserve the eternal gratitude of Jews and Christians and free men and women alike.
08:40Thank you all.
08:42And I'm Israel and Jerusalem lives in our hearts.
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