| Remarks by Governor Ted Kulongoski |
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| April 30, 2006 |
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AIPAC Oregon Community Dinner 2006
Thank you Brian for your generous introduction, and for co-chairing – along with Craig Berne – tonight’s dinner. I also want to welcome and thank Deputy Consul General Omer Caspi for joining us this evening. And special thanks to the members and friends of AIPAC for giving me this chance to say a few words about what Israel means to Oregon and America, and what AIPAC means to Israel.
As most of you know, I was raised by nuns – which means from a very early age I was taught to believe in miracles. Of course, everything the nuns told me to believe came with an implied, “or else.” Still, I can’t say they were wrong – because sometimes I view my own life as a miracle.
I bring up the subject of miracles because of something David Ben-Gurion said: “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” The restoration of a Jewish homeland after 2,000 years of exile proves his point.
But even the wisdom of Ben-Gurion is no match for the wisdom of the Talmud – which says this: “When there is a possibility of danger – do not depend on a miracle.” That is exactly where Israel finds itself today – living in a neighborhood that grows more dangerous by the day, with a Hamas-led government in the West Bank and Gaza – and an Iranian government that denies the Holocaust and threatens Israel with annihilation.
So this is no time to depend on miracles. Instead, Israel and the United States must continue to depend on each other. Israel is a strategic partner and America’s our only stable, reliable, and democratic ally in the middle east. Israel is also a major trading partner for America. Oregon has a growing role in the U.S.-Israel trade relationship. Like Israel – innovation and high technology now power our economy. And as I recently told Consul General David Akov, I hope to lead a trade mission to Israel next year.
But America’s ties with Israel are more than strategic and economic. They are rooted in common values of religious freedom, open dissent, an independent judiciary, and an unbending belief in the historical, cultural and moral case for Zionism. A belief I fully share.
But just as we need Israel – Israel needs us. And the people of Israel have no better friend than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. That is why I am proud to be here this evening – to lend my support to the work of AIPAC. And I am not alone. Even in these partisan times, support for AIPAC is an article of faith for both political parties. This is as it should be – because the survival of Israel is not a Democratic principle or a Republican principle. It is an American principle. But principles that are ignored can easily be forgotten. That is why Israel needs the strong and effective voice of AIPAC in the halls of Congress, state capitals – and in the public square.
Abba Eban once pointed out that “nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives.”
Even after 58 years, many nations have not run out of alternatives to the wisdom of peace and friendship with Israel. Some day – perhaps they will. In the meantime, AIPAC’s mission of the strengthening the economic, political, military and diplomatic ties between America and Israel must continue, which means that our mission to strengthen AIPAC must continue too.
I would like to close with this thought: Jews around the world just finished celebrating their deliverance from slavery. But even the chosen people need to choose great leaders – like Ariel Sharon.
Ariel Sharon was a brave leader of a brave country. On behalf of the people of Oregon, I thank him for taking brave steps for peace – and I know you join me in praying for his recovery.
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