Likud Knesset member Gideon Sa’ar said on Tuesday that the world is currently being endangered by a “lack of moral clarity.”
Speaking to 25 pro-Israel parliamentarians from around the world on the final day of the Israel Allies Foundation’s annual Chairman’s Conference in Jerusalem, Sa’ar said, “Today, around the world, I feel like we are suffering from a lack of moral clarity when it comes to a number of key issues.”
Two of those issues in particular, said Sa’ar, who is currently challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud Party leadership, were “the ongoing war against Islamic extremism and terrorism,” and “the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”
There are nations that excuse or refuse to identify terrorism for what it is, he said, and are then surprised when attacks take place in their streets.
“Let’s not pretend for even a minute that we do not know the real reasons behind this decision,” he added, going on to state that the ruling was an attempt to delegitimize Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. “In the decision to mark these Israeli goods, the E.U. is not acting morally, nor is it acting legally. Applying rules to Israel that it does not apply anywhere else in the world is against the laws of the World Trade Organization.”
He added that “this is an attempt to delegitimize the right of the Jewish people to live and build our future in the land of our forefathers.”
The world’s lack of moral clarity, said Sa’ar, was not only offensive but “dangerous.” When a company in Israel that employs Palestinians is the target of BDS, he said, it is the Palestinians who are harmed and lose their jobs. “Who will be there ready to help them instead? Hamas,” he asked rhetorically.
Instead, Hamas would step in and fill that void while teaching the children to hate Israel, he said.
Sa’ar went on to criticize those governments that support the Palestinian Authority financially, citing the fact that the P.A. earmarks the funding for its “pay to slay” program, whereby terrorists and their families receive financial compensation on a sliding scale based on how many Israelis they murder or wound.
With regard to Israel and its neighbors, he said “there is no bigger mistake then to try and understand our region—the Middle East—according to the norms or standards of totally different neighborhoods around the world.”
Sa’ar concluded by thanking the participants on behalf of the Israeli government for a resolution they signed expressing their commitment to the State of Israel, as well as to continue fighting against BDS and anti-Semitism in their home countries.
“I accept warmly this important statement on behalf of all Israel,” he said, “and join you in calling on the E.U., and on governments around the world: Do not be blind to the truth. It is time to show moral clarity when it comes to the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict and all the issues in the Middle East.”