It is the nature of days like these - like the Ten Days of Repentance [the ten days between Rosh Hashana (the New Year), and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)] - that we are required to do some soul searching. It is the nature of days like these, that at this hour, the hour of the Ne'ilah prayers, the concluding prayer of the Ten Days of the Zionist Entity, we are required to stop for a moment; to consider from where we came and to look forward in hope to where our steps are leading us.

When we look back on our actions and our achievements, we must not ignore the failures and frustrations. But as we take stock, we can honestly say that we have come a long way. We have succeeded beyond our prayers, beyond our hopes. Even beyond what any other nation or society has ever done. No other nation in the world, throughout the history of mankind, has done what we, the modern Jewish People have done. No other has nation has managed to overcome such tragedy, finding within themselves the supreme power to prevail before such totally opposing forces. The force of the destruction of the Holocaust and the price we have paid in each of our wars, and counteracting this, the positive force - the act of building up our country, when we came together here and brought in all the other exiles. On the waves of this force, we rejoined the family of nations and took our place with a position of respect.

Nevertheless, we are not satisfied. There is a sour atmosphere here. A continual feeling of having missed out on something. The scandals follow one another, the internal enmity, the sectarianism - we no longer follow the principle "the Tribes of Israel together", but rather "Each man to thy tents, O Israel".

What do we have here? In part, this is a healthy response - continual self-criticism and doubt ensure that we shall not become too proud in face of our amazing achievements. At the same time, something important is bursting forth and taking over, completely changing our lives. This change is not easy for us.

Fifty years ago, seven Arab states fought against us. Nineteen years later, in the Six Day War, only three of those seven were involved in the fighting. Six years later, in the Yom Kippur War, only two countries, Egypt and Syria, attacked us and fought in the war. Since then, we have signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and are making peace with our neighbours the Palestinians. And the Syrians, slowly and at their own speed, are approaching like a butterfly drawn to the light of Middle Eastern peace. And throughout the world, only a very few Jews still live under immediate threat to their lives.

Our generation is the first in the whole history of the Jewish People to be faced with this new, unknown vision. Our challenge is no longer how to survive in face of an enemy and troubles, the challenge is clear: we must prove that the Jewish People can survive and continue to exist without an external enemy.

And our reply must be an optimistic: Yes! We have enough internal strength to redefine ourselves, with the spiritual strength of a sovereign and free people unthreatened by persecution and hatred. I "believe with perfect faith" that the chain of our national rebirth - a chain that is made of links of Aliyah and of settlement of the land, of security and the ingathering of the exiles - is soon to receive two more links: from the outside - peace, and from the inside - the struggle over modern Jewish identity.

For when the walls of hostility that surround us fall, we have to make a commitment that we shall not permit barriers of antagonism and separatism to be built up and to divide us. It is true, we are all different from each other; nevertheless we are all entitled to equality. Equality between opinions and ethnic groups, equality between religions and social classes.

How do we do this? We do this with tolerance, compromise and reconciliation. Each one of us came here with an ancient dream. And in the land where dreams meet, each of us must make compromises, take a step to reconciliation and be considerate of the dreams of others. From deep down, these new and old social issues are bursting out and threatening us. They are slashing and scarring the face of Israeli society.

For the sake of our children's Israel, an Israel of peace and the building of the community, we must all play our part: so that we can build new bridges over the social gaps, on behalf of those who are different; on behalf of the poor and the stranger, the orphan and the widow, the hungry and the new immigrant, the unemployed and the battered woman.

From here on Mt. Herzl, we must bring the debate on identity into everyday life, into the classroom and into the workplace, into the Knesset and into the decision-making centres.

The principle is simple, but the implementation is difficult. Israel will be a society of its beliefs and of its believers. It has one God and four religions: Jews and Christians, Moslems and Druze. The religious and the secular, Jews and Arabs, men and women, rich and poor, westerners and easterners, immigrants and those born in Israel. On this day, as the gates of Heaven close for another year, we must swear that we shall follow the principle that 'We shall never do to the other who is different from us that which is hateful to us, as was done to us when we were different from those others among whom we lived as a minority'.

We shall, therefore, conclude with the prayer for peace - for peace at home and for peace in our lives.

"Give peace, goodness and blessing, life, grace and loving kindness and mercy to us and to all Your people Israel. Bless us our Father, all of us together with the light of Your countenance - for with the light of Your countenance You have given us, O Lord, our God . . . the love of compassion and charity and blessing and mercy and life and peace and may it be good in Your eyes to bless us with strength and peace. Blessed are You O Lord, who blesses His people Israel with Peace.

I wish you a Happy Holiday - Hag same'ach Israel.