"Iran is Israel's best friend, and we do not intend to change our position in relation to Tehran."
Iran waa saxibka qaaliga ee Israil ma anan qorshenne inan badalno boskena xariirka ee Tehran
Believe it or not, this is a quote from an Israeli prime minister, but it's not Ben-Gurion or Golda Meir from the era of the Shah. It's actually from Yitzhak Rabin. The year is 1987. Ayatollah Khomeini is still alive, and much like Ahmadinejad today, he's using the worst rhetoric against Israel. Yet, Rabin referred to Iran as a geostrategic friend.
rumayso ama ha rumeysan, tani waa midlaga sooxigtay Raiisul wasaare Israil ah laakin mahan Ben-Gurion ama Golda Meir kasoo bilaaw xili taariqeedki Shah. Xaqiiqdii waa Yitzhak Rabin kaimaday. sanadii 1987. Ayatollah Khomeuni weli waa noolyahay, iyo kuwo kale badan sida Ahmadnijad maanta, wuxuu isticmaalayay hadal karsanan kadhanimada Israil welina, Rabin waxoo tixraacaya Iran si saxib ula noqoyo.
Today, when we hear the threats of war and the high rhetoric, we're oftentimes led to believe that this is yet another one of those unsolvable Middle Eastern conflicts with roots as old as the region itself. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I hope today to show you why that is.
Manta, markaynu maqalnay hanjabaada dagalka iyo codkarsananta baxada leh waxaynka kentay mararka qaar in aaminno inay sanadkani tahay midka mid ah xasilooni darada ka taagan qilaafka Bariga dhexe xididka lafaca ah gobalka qudhiisa waxba dheerad makunoqon karaan runta waxaane rajayna manta in idintuso sababta ay sidautahy
The relations between the Iranian and the Jewish people throughout history has actually been quite positive, starting in 539 B.C., when King Cyrus the Great of Persia liberated the Jewish people from their Babylonian captivity. A third of the Jewish population stayed in Babylonia. They're today's Iraqi Jews. A third migrated to Persia. They're today's Iranian Jews, still 25,000 of them living in Iran, making them the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel itself. And a third returned to historic Palestine, did the second rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, financed, incidentally, by Persian tax money.
xariirka udhaxeeya Iraaniyinta iyo dadka Yahuuda ah Taariqdoo idil waxay ahayd mid ilaa xad macqul ah leh kasoobilaaw 539 B.C., marki boqor kuuros ee kuwanagsana Persia kaxuroobidii yahuuda kasoobilaw xabsi kabaxsashadii babyloniam. sadax umeelood meel dadka yahuuda ee daganay Babylonia waxay yihin manta Ciraaq yahuudooda saxad umeelood waxay uguuren Persia waxaa jiro manta yahuud Iraani ah wili 25,000 oo kamid ah waxay kunool yihin Iran ayagoo sameenaya bulshada ugu badan ee yahuuda wadamada bariga dhaxe bananka Israail sadax umeelod waxay kusoo rabteen dhulka taariqiga ee Falastin miyey dhismeenti labad ee guriga waxlagu caabudo ee Jerusalem, maalgalin kadis ah ka socoto lacagta canshurta Persian
But even in modern times, relations have been close at times. Rabin's statement was a reflection of decades of security and intelligence collaboration between the two, which in turn was born out of perception of common threats. Both states feared the Soviet Union and strong Arab states such as Egypt and Iraq. And, in addition, the Israeli doctrine of the periphery, the idea that Israel's security was best achieved by creating alliances with the non-Arab states in the periphery of the region in order to balance the Arab states in its vicinity. Now, from the Shah's perspective, though, he wanted to keep this as secret as possible, so when Yitzhak Rabin, for instance, traveled to Iran in the '70s, he usually wore a wig so that no one would recognize him. The Iranians built a special tarmac at the airport in Tehran, far away from the central terminal, so that no one would notice the large number of Israeli planes shuttling between Tel Aviv and Tehran.
xataa waqtiyadii casriga xariirada waxay ahaayen kuwo isku soodhawanaya xiliyo dhambalka Rabin waxoo ahay mid milicsi leh labaatanka sano ee amaanka iyo sirdoonka iska kaashanayeen inta udhaxeeso labadooda , taaso ayana kudhalatay aragtida hanjabaada cadiga labada wadan waxay kacabsadeen midowgi suufiyed wadamada xogan ee Carabta sida masar iyo ciraq intaa waxaa siidheer caqiidada israail ee geeska fikrada amaanka ee israail waxoo ahay mid an lagu gaari sameenta xulufada an Carabta ahayn gobolada geeska si ay umiisaaman wadamada carabta ee nawaaxiga hada, kaso bilaw aragtidi Shaah inkastoo ow rabay in sir ahan ow kukeediyo ilaa inta owoodyo marka yitzhak , tusaale ahan waxoo udhoofay Iran 70meeyadi sida caadada ah waxoo xiran jiray buruko si cidna maysan garan karin asiga Iiraniyiinta waxay laami qaas ah kadhiseen gigada diyaaridaha ee ehran meel kafok bartanahisa tooso cida aysan haleeli karin tirada badan iska gooshmadki diyaaridaha Israail inta udhaxeysa tel aviv iyo tehran
Now, did all of this end with the Islamic revolution in 1979? In spite of the very clear anti-Israeli ideology of the new regime, the geopolitical logic for their collaboration lived on, because they still had common threats. And when Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, Israel feared an Iraqi victory and actively helped Iran by selling it arms and providing it with spare parts for Iran's American weaponry at a moment when Iran was very vulnerable because of an American arms embargo that Israel was more than happy to violate. In fact, back in the 1980s, it was Israel that lobbied Washington to talk to Iran, to sell arms to Iran, and not pay attention to Iran's anti-Israeli ideology. And this, of course, climaxed in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.
hada, waxaas dhamantot miyey kudhamaaday kacaanki islamka ee 1979? caqaradii xumeed ee fikrada Israail looga soohorjeeday ee xukunka cusub ee macquulka galka ahay ee xariirkooda siisoconayay, maxaa yeelayay wili waxay is wiidarsanayen hajabadyo markii ciraq ay soosartay Iran 1980ki israail waxay kacabsatay gusha ciraq iyo firfircoonida ay ucawineyso iran kagaditaanka gacan iyo kushartitaanta dayactirka iran ameerikan ka qubkooda xiligaasne iran waxay ahayd mid si sahla looweerari karo maxaa yeelay ameericanka aya cuno qabateyay taaso israail ugu faraxsaneed in sharciga jabiso xaqiidi , hadii dibloogu noqdo 1980ki israail ayey ahayd cida soogashay Washington si ula hadasho iran kana iibiso gacn iran mahan soojiido iran fikrada israail kaga soohorjeedo tanni dabcan waa xiiso leh kasoohorjeedki fadeexada iran 1980ki
But with the end of the Cold War came also the end of the Israeli-Iranian cold peace. Suddenly, the two common threats that had pushed them closer together throughout decades, more or less evaporated. The Soviet Union collapsed, Iraq was defeated, and a new environment was created in the region in which both of them felt more secure, but they were also now left unchecked. Without Iraq balancing Iran, Iran could now become a threat, some in Israel argued. In fact, the current dynamic that you see between Iran and Israel has its roots more so in the geopolitical reconfiguration of the region after the Cold War than in the events of 1979, because at this point, Iran and Israel emerge as two of the most powerful states in the region, and rather than viewing each other as potential security partners, they increasingly came to view each other as rivals and competitors. So Israel, who in the 1980s lobbied for and improved U.S.-Iran relations now feared a U.S.-Iran rapprochement, thinking that it would come at Israel's security interests' expense, and instead sought to put Iran in increased isolation.
dhamadkii dagalki qabooba sidoo kale waxoo noqday nabdii qaboobed ee israail iyo iran sikadis ah , labada hanjabaat ee caadiga aya aad iskuugu soodhawaweysay ayga , sikastaba waxay kuansadeen uumi bixid yar ama badan midowgii suufiyeed waa dhacay ciraq ne waalaga awoodbadshay dagaalka cusub waxaa lagu dhisay gobalka kaaso labadooda ay kadareemin amaan sidoo kale waxay ahaayen kuwo an hubesnen ayadoon ciraaq kabaynin iran iran hada waxay noqon kartaa hada hanjabat meelaha israail ay kumurmeen xaqiiqdi, fiir fircoonida kaaga muuqato iran iyo israail waxay leedahay xiddo dheer ee siyaasada farsameesan ee gobalka dagaalki qabobay kadib kabadan dhacdooyinki 1979ki maxaayelay markan iran iyo israaila waxay kusoo baxayn labo wadan ugu aqooda badal gobalka tasoo doorbidaysa in midba midka kale fiirsado sida usuurto galiso amanka is iska kashadan waxay dardargaliyen muuqaalkooda si utartamaan tartanno sida darteet israil ,taaso 1980 gashay si ucadeyso qaranada midoob xariirkooda iran hada waxay kacabsi qabtaa xarrirka wanaagsana ee maraykanka-iran ayagoo kafakiraaya taas in noqon donta amaanka israail xiisentisa qaaliga iyo badalka ay raadin lahaayen in iran ay ku gordhiyaan go'doomin.
Ironically, this was happening at a time when Iran was more interested in peacemaking with Washington than to see to Israel's destruction. Iran had put itself in isolation because of its radicalism, and after having helped the United States indirectly in the war against Iraq in 1991, the Iranians were hoping that they would be rewarded by being included in the post-war security architecture of the region. But Washington chose to ignore Iran's outreach, as it would a decade later in Afghanistan, and instead moved to intensify Iran's isolation, and it is at this point, around 1993, '94, that Iran begins to translate its anti-Israeli ideology into operational policy. The Iranians believed that whatever they did, even if they moderated their policies, the U.S. would continue to seek Iran's isolation, and the only way Iran could compel Washington to change its position was by imposing a cost on the U.S. if it didn't. The easiest target was the peace process, and now the Iranian ideological bark was to be accompanied by a nonconventional bite, and Iran began supporting extensively Palestinian Islamist groups that it previously had shunned. In some ways, this sounds paradoxical, but according to Martin Indyk of the Clinton administration, the Iranians had not gotten it entirely wrong, because the more peace there would be between Israel and Palestine, the U.S. believed, the more Iran would get isolated. The more Iran got isolated, the more peace there would be. So according to Indyk, and these are his words, the Iranians had an interest to do us in on the peace process in order to defeat our policy of containment. To defeat our policy of containment, not about ideology.
waxaa xusid mudan, waxaani waxay dhacen waqti marka iraan ad uxiisayneesay nabad lasameenta Washington inkabada inta arki lahayd israail oo burbursan iran waxay is galisay go'doon sababtoo ah waxay ahayd mid qiireysan kadib kaalmo kahelidii ameerikanka an tooska ahayn inta lagu guda jiray dagalki kaga soohorjeday ciraq 1991 iraaniyinta waxay rajeynaayen in laga amaal marindoono kusoodaritanka lagu soodaray cidaanka nabad sugida ee gobolka laakin Washington waxay dooratay in iska dhaga tirto iran caawideda si ay dib ugu go aansato in afgaanistan iyo badalka raritanka si ay uxoojinso go'doominta iiran xaligaan lajoogane, agagaarka 1993,'94. in iiran bilawday badalitanka fikradeedi israail kadhanta ahayd una badasho siyaasad howlgaleed iraaniyinta waxay aaminsanaayen waxkasto ay sameeyen xataa hadii ay dhaxdhaxaad kanoqdan siyaasadooda umeerikan waxay siiwadi lahaayen kadalbashada go'doominta iran wadada kaliyahna ufuran ay ku qasbi karaan Washington inay badalaan booskoda wayneenaya qiimaha ameerika . hadii aysan noqon tan ugu fudud oo labartilmaamedsanayay waxay ahayd habka nabada hadane iiraniyiinta fikradooda qaylada waxay ahayd in lasocoto qaniinyada an caadiga ahayn , iran waxay bilowday taageerida marwalbo kooxaha islaamiyinta ee falastiin kuwasoo horay neceb kala dhaxeeyay. siyaaboyinka qar. waxay u egtahay kuwa is burinaya laakin marka loofiiriyo martin indyk oo kamid ah maamulka clinton iraaniyintan dhamaantot maysan uqaadan qalad, maxaa yeelay nabada badan ee halkas kajirto ayaa waxay noqon lahayd mid udhaxeysa israail iyo falastin, ameerika waxay aaminsanayen inta badan la go'doomiyo iran inta badan iran go'doonto, waa nabada badan ee kadhalan karto sidaa darteet marka loofiiriyo indyk, waxa waayay erayadiisa iraaniyinta waxay daneynaayen inan usameeno qaab nabadeedka si ay ujabiyan siyaasadeena kooban in lajabiyo siyaasadayna kooban maahan mid fikrad kusabsan
But throughout even the worst times of their entanglement, all sides have reached out to each other. Netanyahu, when he got elected in 1996, reached out to the Iranians to see if there were any ways that the doctrine of the periphery could be resurrected. Tehran was not interested. A few years later, the Iranians sent a comprehensive negotiation proposal to the Bush administration, a proposal that revealed that there was some potential of getting Iran and Israel back on terms again. The Bush administration did not even respond. All sides have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
laakin sikastaba ay ahaato xataa waqtiyadii ugu xumay ee murgidoona labada dhinac way iskaagen netanyahu, markii loocodeeyay sanadii 1996 waxoo garsiiyay iiraniyinta inoo tuso hadii ay jirto wado un taas oo caqiidada deeganka loosobixin karo tehran maysan daneenen sanado kobadan kadib, iraaniyinta waxay direen gorgortan dhamestiran jeeditanka in maamulka bush soo jiito shaac kaqaadita in jiraan waxyaalo dhici karan sida iran iyo israil in dib ugu raabtan sharuudo markale . maamulka bish kama owsan jawaabin xata labada dhinac waligood maysan dhaafin fursad ay kudhaafan fursad
But this is not an ancient conflict. This is not even an ideological conflict. The ebbs and flows of hostility have not shifted with ideological zeal, but rather with changes in the geopolitical landscape. When Iran and Israel's security imperatives dictated collaboration, they did so in spite of lethal ideological opposition to each other. When Iran's ideological impulses collided with its strategic interests, the strategic interests always prevailed. This is good news, because it means that neither war nor enmity is a foregone conclusion.
laakin kan mahan khilaf gabobay. kan xata mahan khilaaf fikradeed dareemaha iyo caawada raacsan maysan badalin fikradi xiisahabadned, laakin dorbidida isbadalka leh ee siyaasada gobalka marka baahida amaanka ee israail iyo iran Taasna ay iska wadakaashaqeen, waay samyen sidaa inkastoo oo ay mucaaradka fikradooda halis midba bida kal kutahay marka fikrada israil sidag dag ah iskuugu dhacn si ay kujirto dano istaraatiijiyadeed danaha istaraatiijiyadeed marwalba waa ka adkaa. kani waa akhbaar wanagsan , maxaa ylay waxay kadhigantahay in midkoodna colaad kala dhaxen waa midhor oo gababsi ah
But some want war. Some believe or say that it's 1938, Iran is Germany, and Ahmadinejad is Hitler. If we accept this to be true, that indeed it is 1938, Iran is Germany, Ahmadinejad is Hitler, then the question we have to ask ourself is, who wishes to play the role of Neville Chamberlain? Who will risk peace? This is an analogy that is deliberately aimed at eliminating diplomacy, and when you eliminate diplomacy, you make war inevitable. In an ideological conflict, there can be no truce, no draw, no compromise, only victory or defeat.
laakin qarkod waxay raban dagal qaar aya aminsan ama dhaho 1939 iran waa jarmal axmad najadn waa hitler hadii aynu aqbalno tan in run tahay taas xaqiiqda waxay tahay1938, iran in jarmal tahy axmad najadna in hitlr yahy suaalaha mudan in iswaydiino waa Yaa rajaynaayay in cayaaro doorka Nevilla chamberlain? Yaa Khatar ugalaa nabad? Tani waa cilmi Taas oo si ulakacah loogu talagay baabi'itanka dibloomaciyad markaad suulisidna dibloomasiyada waxaad kusameysa dagaal an qarsamen fikrad is khilafsan, wax heshiis xabad joojin ah majirayan majiran wax dhaxdhaxaad ah waxa kaliyah oojiro waa guul ama khasaro
But rather than making war inevitable by viewing this as ideological, we would be wise to seek ways to make peace possible. Iran and Israel's conflict is a new phenomenon, only a few decades old in a history of 2,500 years, and precisely because its roots are geopolitical, it means that solutions can be found, compromises can be struck, however difficult it yet may be. After all, it was Yitzhak Rabin himself who said, "You don't make peace with your friends. You make it with your enemies."
laakin waxay kadoor bideen sameenta dagaal an qarsoomen ufiiritanka midaan fikrad ahan waxaan kudhiiran lahayn in siyaabo kale usameyno ay an nabada macquul ugu dhigno iran iyo israil khilafkooda waa layaab cusub waxyar ayaa goansaday dhalin taarikhda 2,500 san0 sida saxda ah sababtoo ah salakeeda waa siyaasad waxayna kadhigan taas in xalkeda lahli karo dhaxdhaxaadiska waxay noqon kartaa shaqo kafadhiisasho sikasta ay u adagtahy wili way noqonosa waxaas oo dhan waxay ahaayen yitzhak rabin waxoo nasfad ahantiisa dhahay "saaxiibada nabad lama sameysid waxaa lasameysaa nabad cadowgaaga."
Thank you.
Mahadsanid .
(Applause)
(sacbis)