Mercy and Truth

Address given by violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin to the Knesset upon receiving Israel's highest honor for his accomplishments as a musician, May 5, 1991

All around us we see pain, anguish and horror—is this not the very moment when we, as Jews gathered together in Israel, should recognize our supreme destiny: to heal and help?

Reciprocity is the pragmatic rule of all societies. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword and terror and fear provoke terror and fear. Hatred and contempt are fatally infectious, so by the same token, you must love if you yearn to be loved: You must trust to be trusted, serve in return to be served.

My friends, Israel has come of age. The moment is ripe. The challenge is yours. Do not calculate your actions out of the darkness of fear... [or] you will continue to let yourselves be governed by this fear and violence, remaining a bitter armed camp as long as you survive.

Whatever the choice of solutions: that of two separate states or the one federated state (which latter would seem preferable and less likely to carry the endemic danger of war)—or again a humiliating conference of other powers sitting in judgment upon Israel—one factor surely must remain prime: there must be absolute reciprocity, absolute equality, mutual recognition of the dignity of life, respect for each others' traditions and its background—these are the sine qua non of peace—not peace as a hiatus in which to prepare further wars but peace in its integral sense, which must remain and will remain a constant and high minded struggle.

This offer can only come from the stronger. Thus will this land ever become stronger, confident in the forging of new and worthy friends when it will face the ineluctable fact that, living amongst them, are people equally dedicated to the land, equally ready to die for their loyalties and who are ultimately destined to become each others' friends.

One fact is surely abundantly clear, namely this wasteful governing by fear, by contempt for the basic dignities of life, this steady asphyxiation of a dependent people should be the very last means to be adopted by those who themselves know too well the awful significance, the unforgettable suffering of such an existence ...

It is unworthy of my great people, the Jews, who have striven to abide by a code of moral rectitude for some 5,000 years, who can create and achieve a land and a society for themselves such as we see around, but can yet deny the sharing of its great qualities and benefits to those others dwelling amongst them.