Knesset Speaker Yitzhak Shamir:

I hereby open the Knesset sitting. Members of the Knesset, we celebrate today, the 15th of Shvat, the New Year of the Trees, the 29th birthday of the Knesset, the house of representatives of the Jewish state.

In honor of the holiday, we planted trees today near the Knesset. We have planted together – Knesset members and employees, soldiers, officers, settlers, immigrants and schoolchildren.

In fulfilling this nice tradition of plantings, we highlighted today the symbolic unity of those who participated: The people’s representatives in charge of administering to the people, soldiers and officers who keep us safe, settlers who set boundaries and deepen the people’s roots across the nation, immigrants who gathered from afar, and schoolchildren who promise the nation’s future and eternity. All of these gathered this morning at the Knesset to plant in the soil of eternal Jerusalem, and to say to us and our fellow-men that we are all unified in our desire to lay down roots and set a foundation in the nation’s land, and to create a better and safer future for the people of Israel in the land of Israel.

And if the happiness that accompanies the holiday was mixed with worry for the peace that is delayed, it is the faith in our just and resilient decision to continue and plant and imbue – these strengthen the hope that the power of the people’s inner-will and power of life ultimately bring the external recognition in the right of the Jewish people for a life of peace and freedom in their only land.

There is no escaping these days from the recognition that it is up to us, our unity, our persistence, our aim for the good and beautiful and just – to come together and realize the creation of the power on which our people will be built and tested during fateful times.

The Knesset, the house of representatives of the state, must find a way to express the vitality of the nation and the continuous effort to progress, strengthen and rise.

Members of the Knesset, the Ninth Knesset already faced great times during its short tenure until now. It was in these times of spiritual uplifting that encompassed almost all parts of this house, that the progression of the State of Israel was proven to be clear certain. It is in times of true tests that the inter-factional differences become insignificant and the need for national unity rises, while aiming for a higher level of morality, dedication and competence.

The members of the Ninth Knesset are facing great and serious challenges for supplying answers and solutions to permanent and temporary problems that face the state.

The problems of peace and security, immigration and settlement, economy and society, are facing us and claiming continuous maximal effort for providing correct and detailed solutions that are executable.

There is no doubt that all of these obligate us to reach a higher level in the quality and quantity of our work and our diligence – to levels that we have yet seen.

Members of the Knesset, let us bless ourselves on the Knesset’s birthday, that we will be worthy of the position and tasks that were bestowed upon us, and that we succeed in contributing to the advancement, strengthening and well-being of the people that elected us.

Let us bless the people of Israel, that they may have a chance soon at better, more pure and beautiful lives in a great and free nation that lies peacefully and comfortably in its land.