How symbolic it is that my teacher and mentor, Shimon Peres, is the one who is handing over to me the Speaker’s hammer. Thank you, Shimon. Thank you for what you are, to me and to this People. May the People of Israel be blessed in you, your rare abilities, and your fruitful opinion, for many more good years.

Members of the Knesset, this is a very special hour for me.
I have gone a long way from my childhood in the Romema quarter in Jerusalem to the present moment, in which I am sitting on the seat of the fathers of Israelis democracy: I Dalia Itzik, daughter of the late Gershon Ballas, and, may she live a long life, Marcel, daughter of a poor family with many children, have received your confidence today, and thank God “who has kept me alive, and sustained me to reach the present time”.

I wish to pause for a moment and pray with you for the recovery of Ariel Sharon. As a member of his Government, I saw the courage of his spirit, as he stood firmly by his opinion. I believed in him, I followed him. Most of the People of Israel trusted his leadership. Now – in difficult days for him and his family, let us beg, in the words of the prayer of Moses for his sister Miriam: “Please, let him recover”.

Members of the Knesset, I admit, I am excited. I do not take this time and this occasion lightly. I have spent 14 years in this Chamber. I served in a variety of positions, but I believe that in the stormy seas of the Israeli public scene, the Knesset ship is the most fascinating of them all.

For here, especially here, the citizen’s wall of confidence in his representatives and his state, is constructed on a daily basis, and with a good deal of toil. It is constructed or, Heaven forbid, cracks.

Despite all the criticism, the position of the Knesset is exalted.
There are few Israelis who reach this House, and do not lose a heartbeat. Furthermore, a day after Independence Day, and after we cried for our sons on Commemoration day, it is clearer and more apparent to all of us, that the Knesset is the symbol of the rule of the people over its land, of its independence.

I was sent to this exalted seat by a party that emerged more or less from nothing, seeking to find a road to the heart of the Israeli center, to the majority of the people, to its golden path. I wish to thank you, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for the confidence you have expressed in me, and wish you, not only as Speaker of the Knesset, but also as a mother to children, good luck. Good luck from the bottom of my heart. Let us hope that in the midst of the tempest and storm, you will succeed in navigating the State to a safe haven.

Dear friends, from now on I am not the representative of a parliamentary group, or a party, or a course. I am the representative of the whole House - Right and Left, religious and secular, Jews and Arabs, old timers and new immigrants, women and men. I am Speaker of the whole Knesset, without preference, and without prejudice. I shall fully defend the right of all the streams and opinions, approaches and parliamentary groups to be heard. This is my duty, to you and to the State of Israel. This is my mission.

Mr. Prime Minister, the Knesset will fulfill its role faithfully. It will criticize when criticism is required; it will be here for all the citizens of Israel; it will sound the positions of the weak and the young, the outcry of the poor and the cries of those in pain.

We hope for the success of the Government, but shall fulfill our duty with devotion. I am sure that especially you, Prime Minister, as one of the senior members of the House, know better than anyone else how important it is that the Knesset will be strong, determined, and will not yield easily. A qualitative and significant Knesset, will make it possible to strengthen its image, and subsequently – democracy.

In the last elections the people in Israel gave those sitting here a mandate to act, each according to his conscience, and on the basis of the banners which he bore to the voter.

But the Knesset and democracy received a yellow card, and perhaps even a red card.
For close to 37 percent of the registered voters did not participate in the democratic process, and the shadow party of the abstainers is drawn above us, like a turning sword.

Why, in your opinion, has the House been punished?
For if we look at the previous Knesset we shall see that the Knesset really and truly did great things. For better or worse, it adopted the disengagement plan; it approved the economic upheaval; in the Labor and Welfare Committee significant legislation was passed for the disabled; in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee parliamentary control of the IDF became more relevant than ever.

In the Constitution Committee – a real infrastructure was prepared for Israel’s Constitution. Significant things were done. But in the public awareness, the 16th Knesset will be remembered as one that was a disappointment, especially because of several members who shamed it, who gave it a bad name - to all 120 Members, who shamed this House and plundered it. Therefore, in my opinion, the greatest task of the 17th Knesset – mine as Speaker of the House, and yours as Members, is to bring back the trust, slowly and with determination, and return the dignity of the Knesset, as it was originally.

Members of the Knesset, at the opening sitting of the Constituent Assembly, President Chaim Weizmann outlined the Chamber’s course: “The Torah of Israel and the vision of the prophets of Israel provided a new morality in the relations between men, and laid down a new regime in the life of the human society. The prophets of Israel… defended the poor, the deprived, the proselyte, the slave, the orphan and the widow, with the sharpness of their tongue… The ancient regime of the Hebrew people was the progenitor of the constitutions of the enlightened world”.

The Knesset is the home of the minorities. From here we shall insist on advancing the equality of the Arabs of Israel. We shall care for the whole population, which suffers from injury and deprivation, for all the minorities: the ultra-orthodox public, the immigration public, and many others. As a member of the army of women, who are still struggling for their place in the public arena, I know that the face of this Knesset will be direct, first and foremost, to the weak and to those discriminated against.

Members of the Knesset, in this Knesset it is possible that painful and difficult decisions will be taken, measures that will create cracks in the Israeli society. In such circumstances as well, we must preserve the Chamber, its dignity, the right of the minority to cry out, to try and convince, to protest, to influence the street and the representatives. At the same time we must remember the bitter lesson that we learnt, for the sound of the shots in the square, when the Prime Minister, the late Yitzhak Rabin fell on duty – the duty of guarding the democracy – still resound in my ears, and those of many others here and among the People.

The struggle could be bitter, and the divisions great. This is also the time, in my opinion, to call for dialogues, and to hug those torn away from the Gaza Strip, as well as the inhabitants of Judea and Samaria. We must not stop talking. We must not allow ourselves to be torn within. Even if we disagree and argue, we must talk, for after the decisions will be taken, and there will be pain, we shall have to continue to live here together, for we are brothers. But our duty is to remember that the die shall be cast here. The battle shall be here, and the decision will have to be respected by all.

Before concluding, I should like to thank the outgoing Speaker, MK Ruby Rivlin, a Jerusalemite who struggled fiercely to preserve the dignity of the Knesset. Your term, Ruby, was greatly appreciated by all sections of the House. Thank you, and good luck.

During the changing of the guard in the Holy Temple, the outgoing guard used to say to the incoming guard: "He who bestowed his name to this building, shall bestow love, and fraternity, and peace, and camaraderie among you".

I am not naive enough to think that it is possible to run a Chamber that is all love, and fraternity, and peace, but I believe that we must all try to bring a better spirit – a new spirit. I intend to bring with me to the job the right spirit – a spirit of cooperation with all parts of the Hous, to attain the goals common to all of us: that this House, upon all its residents, shall be faithful to the public, and attentive to its feelings.

Again, thank you, Members of the Knesset, for the confidence and for the great opportunity that has befallen me.

I shall end with a worthy Jewish prayer that I love:

Osse Shalom Bimromav
Hu Ya'aseh Shalom Aleinu,
Aleinu Ve'al Kol Yisrasel
Ve'imru Amen.


Dalia Itzik
Speaker of Knesset