Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the Eizenstat Lecture

        Photos by Chris Savas

    Rain poured down on Peachtree Battle and Northside Drive on November 29, but inside Congregation Ahavath Achim, about 750 members of synagogues and churches, along with dignitaries, gathered for the 22^nd Annual Eizenstat Lecture. The speaker, the Honorable Michael B. Oren, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, talked about the rain, dreams and the close relationship between America and Israel.

           The Honorable Stuart E. Eizenstat, Founder of the Eizenstat lecture series in memory of his parents and aunt and uncle, has brought to Atlanta other notable speakers including The Honorable Abba Eban, the Honorable Teddy Kollek, the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Honorable Joseph Lieberman, Natan Sharansky and Elie Wiesel. 

 Co-Chairman for this evening, Steve Oppenheimer, D.D.S., in his introductory remarks said, “We are the people who pray for rain; we just never know when it will come.” Later, when Ambassador Oren stood at the podium, he said, “Thank you for braving this weather.”

Really, the brave one is Ambassador Oren who represents Israel in Washington and travels throughout the United States spreading positive messages about the Jewish homeland. This isn't easy, especially on college campuses today, said Ambassador Eizenstat when he introduced him. Ambassador Eizenstat referred to the Israeli ambassador as “a superb public spokesman, persuasive writer … world class scholar.” Then he added a reference to the evening's weather and this time of year in Israel when he said, “He's an Israeli man for all seasons – the rainy season.” 

           The rain in Atlanta didn't keep Ambassador Oren from speaking at Emory, CNN, and laying a wreath at the monument for Martin Luther King Jr. earlier in the day. He called the latter experience an “extraordinary event” since the Ambassador's father dedicated his life to protecting the rights of others. 

The diplomat then spoke of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous dream of equality and freedom and shared his own dream to live in Israel and represent the State. Growing up in New Jersey in the 60's, Ambassador Oren said that he couldn't believe his good fortune when he learned about the existence of the Jewish State. So at a young age, Oren left for Israel and tried to raise alfalfa on a kibbutz. Soon, he returned to America and, at 15, joined a Young Zionist group where he saw his first Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Yitzhak Rabin. He thought, “That's my dream; that's what I want to be when I grow up.” 

        In the 70's, Oren made aliyah and worked for Rabin in the early 90's, keeping alive his goal of becoming an ambassador for the Jewish homeland. “In the process of fulfilling this dream,” the Ambassador said, “...I became an historian...studying the history of the American/Israeli relationship.”

 Ambassador Oren , who has written two bestseller history books, shared a generally unknown account of America's connection to Israel beginning 400 years ago when the Pilgrim William Bradford set foot in Massachusetts and declared the new world 'Zion.' Many colonists called the land, the 'New Israel' and England, the 'New Egypt.' Hebrew was a required language at Princeton and other colleges, and in 1783 when independence was won, some American leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, wanted Moses as the national symbol -- but the eagle won out. 

“The 'New Israel' felt a kinship – a divinely ordained duty” towards the Jews and their homeland, said the historian. This was shown again and again by US presidents including Lincoln who “after restoring the union wanted to restore Israel” and Woodrow Wilson, who against the wishes of his advisers, gave his support to the Balfour Declaration. This declaration led the way to a UN resolution on November 29, 1947, calling for a Jewish homeland ( 63 years to the date of the evening's Eizenstat lecture). Six months later in 1948 and eleven minutes after the UN declared Israel a State, President Harry Truman made America the first country to recognize the State of Israel, which is the only democratic government in the Middle East.

 Ambassador Oren stated that since 1948, the United States and the State of Israel connected spiritually, but their strategic connection didn't exist until 1967, after the 6 Day War, which Israel fought and won without American arms. Then President Johnson sought to create an American/Israeli strategic alliance. This alliance and the support of presidents who followed have provided opportunities to share intelligence to build the most advanced ballistic missiles, train troops together and take part in joint trials for such projects as the electric car. Most important, Israel and America stand together against common threats such as a nuclear armed Iran. 

 “Does this mean that we agree on everything?” asked the Ambassador rhetorically. He pointed out an issue of disagreement on the status of Jerusalem. America has never recognized it as the undisputed capital of Israel because they signed the Balfour Declaration that identified Jerusalem as an international city. Still, he added, “The agreements vastly outnumber the disagreements.”

After Ambassador Oren's speech, Ambassador Eizenstat read some questions from the audience. Asked his opinion about the recent diplomatic leak, Ambassador Oren said that “confidentiality is a cardinal rule of diplomacy” and that what happened was “... irresponsible and must be condemned.” He added that privacy is a challenge today not only in our personal lives.

When the subject of Iran's nuclear arms was brought up again, Ambassador Oren responded that nobody wants military action against Iran and hopes they will back down.

“Israel is a sovereign country with a particular memory,” said Ambassador Oren, referring to the Holocaust. He added, “Israel has the right to defend itself.” This elicited the first spontaneous applause from the audience.

            Concerning peace in Israel, Ambassador Oren said “there's no shortcut for peace with the Palestinians.” He also expressed his concern over anti-semitism as depicted on a recent cover of Time magazine and threats from Hezbollah. “There's tough work ahead of us,” he stressed. “Even water is a problem in the Jewish State.” Referring again to Atlanta's evening of heavy rain, the Israeli ambassador remarked, “We should only have the rainstorms in Israel.” Then he reported that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women are praying for rain and “if that doesn't work...”