Okay we're about ready to get started so allow me to introduce myself

and welcome you all thank you all for joining us it's great to see so many of

you here this evening let me begin by introducing myself I'm Dov Waxman most

of you don't yet know me because I'm just the new director of the Younes

and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies here at UCLA and also the was Rosalinde

and Arthur Gilbert foundation chair of. Israel studies at UCLA and this is a

great privilege for me to be standing here welcoming you to our inaugural

Harry Sigman Distinguished Lecture in Israel

Studies. I just like to say a few words about the late Harry Sigman - longtime

Los Angeles Attorney UCLA alumnus and a generous supporter of the Nazarian

Center for Israel studies and a member of our community advisory board

unfortunately I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sigman but I have learned

from many people what an amazing individual he was in his professional

life mr. Sigman specialized in US and international commercial law he worked

as consultant to governments and NGOs all over the world and represented the

United States and the United Nations at the Hague and in multilateral treaty

negotiations he also taught law at the. University of Southern California and at

UCLA at universities around the world in addition to his expertise in commercial

law he was equally erudite in art architecture history politics and was

fluent in six languages so a truly remarkable individual and yet despite

his vast accomplishments and knowledge he was by all accounts a very humble

person he spoke little about himself never boasted of his work or his

accomplishments he was a man who loved. Israel and he was a true friend of the

Nazarian Center for Israel studies caring deeply about the center's mission

and its success and he was one of our most dedicated and generous community

leaders and an enthusiastic many of our activities he always wanted

to keep learning and contributing even after it became very difficult for him I

understand that he still continued to attend our board meetings and as many of

the programs as he could sadly Harry Sigman passed away in 2017

but his legacy of support for Israel studies at UCLA continues through his

generous endowment gift to the Nazarian. Center which provides scholarships for

UCLA undergraduate and law students to study in Israel supports a graduate

student fellowship in Israel Studies which enables outstanding graduate

students of any religion or nationality to pursue doctoral studies in Israel

studies at UCLA and he also funds our distinguished lecture series the purpose

of which is to bring to UCLA leading experts and figures to discuss

wide-ranging topics related to Israel under the auspices of minus' Arian

Center now for those of you who aren't familiar with the center let me just

tell you a very little bit about us the. Nazarian Center was established 10 years

ago in 2010 as the first full-fledged. Israel Study Center on the west coast

since then it has become an intellectually vibrant home that Israel

studies at UCLA and our mission is to promote the in-depth study of Israel in

all its many dimensions from its history society and politics to its literature

art and culture we sponsor courses for. UCLA students we support research in the

growing academic field of Israel Studies we organize frequent public programs

conferences lectures discussions performances films you name it

we also host visiting academics and bring leading scholars policymakers many

of them from Israel to our campus through our commitment to academic rigor

interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship and a balanced and

dispassionate approach the Nazarian. Center seeks to promote a deeper more

nuanced understanding of israel's history politics society and culture and

at a time when Israel is often a topic of

polemics and shouting matches I think there was a critical need for a less

polarized discourse about Israel on this campus and beyond and I hope this Center

and this event will help contribute to fostering a less polarized discourse

around Israel I also wanted to thank the co-sponsors of this event the Alan D.

Leve Center for Jewish Studies, the. Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish

History, and Hillel at UCLA. And of course. I would like to thank the wonderful

staff of the Nazarian Center. Maura. Resnick, Jeff Daniels. and Jane Matusovskaya

for all of their hard work in organizing

this event now let me introduce our first distinguished speaker. Dr. Hillel

Newman the Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Southwest

originally from South Africa he immigrated to Israel with his family

served as a medic in the idea and attained a PhD in Jewish history but

before he joined the Diplomatic Service. Consul General Newman was a professor of

Jewish history teaching graduate courses at bar-ilan University and Boston

University he also wrote a book on. Jewish sectarianism during the

Hellenistic and Roman period which is actually I think quite relevant today

during his 20-year diplomatic service gent Consul General Newman has

accumulated vast experience in policy formulation and decision-making at the

highest levels of Israel's foreign policy establishment who served as a

policy adviser to three foreign ministers of Israel and served as the

ambassador to Israel to Tajikistan and. Uzbekistan

most recently he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is both special

policy advisor to the director general and is director of the world Jewish

affairs department so he's been intimately involved in the most pressing

and current issues confronting global jury and it is great honor for me to

welcome Consul General Newman here this evening

good evening Shalom everybody Thank You dorvan welcome to the community you're a

wonderful asset to our community here in. Los Angeles Los Angeles wide-area I

would say hey. I promise no long speeches I'm just

introductory words the warm-up act for. Isaac Herzog I just like to say that

it's really a privilege and an honor for me to be here this evening and I thank

the Center for the invitation and I like to say it's a privilege and honor for

three reasons the first reason is because of our wonderful host the

distinguished UCLA campus under the auspices of the Nazarian Center for

Israel studies I'd like to say the center has chosen a very good topic to

to research and we are proud of the fact that there is such a center here

dedicated to the studies of Israel you have your hands full never a dull moment

once I met my counterpart from. Switzerland Switzerland and he said well

for us that takes three years to go through what you do into two days so

that's how we are and also because of the Nazarian family there are good deeds

cross everywhere transcend too they cross the Atlantic and reach Israel in a

very big way and we are proud of what they do second reason is because of the

guest speaker to this evening yet jaquel took an iconic family son of former

President of Israel, grandson of chief rabbi, nephew of Abba Eban such strong

roots and the tree has grown tall not disappointed his roots

serving the Barak government serving as the leader of the opposition and I just

like to say there is no better person a no more suited person to serve as the

head of the Jewish Agency today which bears the responsibility of taking care

of world global affairs Jewish global affairs the challenge is great but

there's no one more suited for the job lastly their third reason why I am so

proud to be here this evening and glad to be with you is because of

the topic Israel and American Jewish community in the relationship the status

of the relationship just like to say two words about this Israel attributes

tremendous importance to this topic in fact it's regarded by Israel as a

strategic issue it's not like any other states in their relations with diaspora

communities you know I meet my colleagues and when I was ambassador and

here also as Consul General and many of them have diasporas and they care about

the diasporas but the relationship between Israel and what we regard as our

diaspora very god not only the Israelis but also the Jewish community as some

type of diaspora of the State of Israel and it's very unique this relationship

first of all because Israel sometimes sacrifices interests political interests

policy interests sacrifices bilateral relations or even multilateral relations

with a with a country or a group of countries just because of the values of

the Jewish community and their prosperity if I give examples like

Austria and Poland and other places where sometimes we have sacrificed

bilateral relations in one way or another just because of the values

involved with the Jewish community the second reason is because of the mutual

assistance and care Israel care as much and stands ready to assist the Jewish

communities at large whether it be facing the threat of

anti-semitism racing this raising this issue with the governments that are

involved and taking care of their concerns I as an ambassador in

Uzbekistan find myself dealing with the cemeteries and with bringing matzo for

Passover and all kinds of issues which I don't think other diplomats would deal

with so there is a very unique relationship we have concerns from each

side and I'm sure Mr. Herzog will talk about it but there is a more elaborate

obligation of the State of Israel towards the Jews and I think there's

also a very close kinship of the Jewish communities to Israel therefore I'm so

glad that you convened this evening and this topic and as I said there's no one

more suitable and courageous to take up this topic as mr. Herzog and I'm looking

to hear his words thank you thank you very much concerning Newman I will just

say a few words of introduction you who have our distinguished speakers bio

available to you you've also heard a little bit from a constable general

Isaac Herzog was appointed the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel in June

2018 succeeding Natan Sharansky as the head of this historic organization and

if you're unfamiliar with the Jewish. Agency by the end of this event I

hopefully you'll become more familiar and acquainted with its many important

activities but before joining the Jewish. Agency mr. Herzl was a member of the

Knesset as well as Parliament for 15 years and during that time he held many

different ministerial positions the minister of housing and construction

Minister of Tourism Minister of diaspora. Affairs Minister of wealth third social

services as well as being in a member of the security cabinet which is really the

inner sanctum of Israeli decision-making from 2013 to 2018 he was the chairman of

Israel's Labor Party as well as the. Knesset opposition leader which is a

formal position in Israel in the 2015 election you may know that he led the

alliance between the Labour Party and the Hatnua Party to create Israel's

largest center-left political party and he was the leading candidate to unseat

Prime Minister Netanyahu in addition to his distinguished career in Israeli

politics you've heard that he also comes from very distinguished illustrious

family his father Chaim Herzog was the sixth President of Israel his

grandfather was Israel's first chief rabbi his mother was the founder of the

Council for a beautiful Israel two roads leading environmental organization his

grandmother founded the world Emunah religious Zionist Organization and on

top of that his uncle was Israel's former foreign minister Abba Eban coming

from such a family might don't many people but in mr. Herzog's case he rose

to that and has dedicated his career to public service it is a great pleasure

for me the great honour for us here at. UCLA to be welcoming mr. Herzog to our

campus thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen it's a Shalom to all of you a

true to be here we started with the British

accent we moved on to South African accent finally you'll have an American

accent so I'm very happy to be here with you I want to thank your consul general

here dr. Hillel Newman wish you great success you're an outstanding diplomat

and you're right in in the right place to be here with this a unique

communities and the responsibilities thank you dr. Waxman. Dr.

Waxman is leading a the Nazarian Center. I want to thank the Nazarian family

Sharon Nazarian actually apologized to me that

she could not be here but her family supports this outstanding institution

which of great importance I was originally invited by a professor Yorum

Cohen who's here in the crowd where are you on your arm so he I give him the

copyrights to coming over and convincing me to come and spend a time in this

wonderful academic institution and they. I think the topic of the day of course

calls for a major discussion which we will hold throughout this evening I want

to start first with the original sources of the unique affinity between the

United States of America and the State of Israel

it doesn't start in 1948 I think it starts already with a American

Revolution the other day I visited the. Touro synagogue in Rhode Island that's

the first synagogue in North America and that's a community actually of people

who were expelled from Portugal and they want to and they actually emerged back

to Judaism it's an orthodox community still governing every day since then but

they they're fascinating stories of course that when President George

Washington came to the community in those days he say not only quoted the

Bible but he actually gave him Magna Carta for the Jews of North

America

and said they will dwell under the figs victory in olives and etc and in fact

environment van leaves and laid out the unique opportunity for Jews in North

America but it was President John Adams who actually believed in the creation of

a Judean State John Adams specifically laid down the vision of a Jewish state

by calling it a Judean state and thereafter the American history

evolved but it is clear that America became the safe haven for millions of

Jews who came to it at the end of the 19th century beginning of the 20th

century and following the Holocaust and it was President Harry Truman who was

the first one to recognize the State of. Israel only 11 minutes after its

creation and who opened up the gates to a Holocaust survivors and people who

fled from Europe throughout the war and thereafter so there is something that is

deeply rooted I think that is that the. Bible I think that the story of the sons

of Israel I think that the creation of the State of Israel has created as a

brought over a certain internal chord in. American life that connected the nations

together however it was never wasn't ever easy

my late father Chaim Herzog depicts in his memoirs living history how when he

came as the first military attache of. Israel to North America to the United

States they my parents went around all throughout Washington DC to find an

apartment to rent and whenever they said they Jewish there were neighbors

neighborhoods who were close to them these are areas that were unknown to us

in this current age and we don't always remember that and there were of course a

events anti-Semitic events and alike but the peridot

sees that despite this golden age of relationship it is an owl shift right

now two years ago he and Africa that. Jews were murdered for the first time on

American soil while spraying in their synagogues twelve Jews and therefore we

have to look at things in perspective understand that things recur and that

dilemmas erupt and that questions that we thought our way dormant are coming

back at times that's a fact of life and the question of what it is to be

Jewish and what it is to sustain Jewish life comes about so I'll start with a

story so in the 17th century rabbi menachem an exile in Amsterdam meets a

converted Jew who just got back from. Ecuador and tells him that he found the

sons of God how come he found the sons of God because when he went to Ecuador

an Indian chief took him into the Desert. Inn into a soaring into the heart of the

forest of the Amazonas and Nina came out people were not Indians and said we are

the sons of Reuben the tribe so what's the difference

between then and now because there's now a nation state and national home for the

Jewish people in the State of Israel the questions of identity of who is Jewish

and why they are Jewish and who belongs to the Jewish people it was part of this

grand collective of the Jewish people keep on recurring time and again but

this time in this chapter of history we've got the State of Israel so where

are we now after having this unique relationship with an emerging Jewish

community and as we delve into the current era I'm reminded of two

instances one is my late grandfather rabbi Herzog's visit to North America

in the midst of the war a world war two and when he traveled all around the

communities in the United States just like others who did

from ben-gurion to high Nachman Bialik they spoke about a certain vision that

there will be one day a Jewish state but the psyche of the Jewish community was

still different from that part of Jewish history then the part after the creation

of the state after the creation of the state and immediately there was a an

eruption of emotions of Jews in a certain sense of pride that nobody could

I couldn't explain it was so overwhelming and then my grandfather

came in again in 1952 and he met. President Truman before he left office

and gave him a Torah scroll and said to him God placed you in your mother's womb

to help the Jews create their a nation-state their homeland the State of

Israel but the second instance has to do with the speech of Moshe Sharett our

second Prime Minister in 1952 he delivers a speech to Hadassah women

thousands of women and says to them in kind of a unique approach he said

actually we this their mini little State of Israel are giving you something that

you never had before whilst your Italian friends German friends Irish friends

could always look back at their nation-state and be proud and speak

about it now we are giving this to you at that time the American Jewish

community actually thought in many ways that without it the State of Israel

could not exist in in fact the American. Jewish community supported the creation

and the strengthening of the State of. Israel in enormous ways which probably

without it Israel could not exist but there was kind of an equilibrium that

was undetermined and in 1952 David ben-gurion started negotiating with a

famous Jewish leader Jacob blaustein from Baltimore who led at the time the

American Jewish Committee and they negotiated a certain treaty out of which

actually the Jewish Agency which I live enjoys special status by law where we

have the we have the empowerment by. Israeli law to represent the entire

Jewish collective within Israeli body politic but the whole notion of this

treaty was we Israel we're not budging in your affairs but we create a certain

understanding of how each one interacts with each other and today people don't

even remember that the relationship developed in such an elaborate manner in

such a beautiful and unique manner with so much of what is I love of Israel that

it is clearly outstanding and perhaps the source of the of the strength of the

State of Israel and the American Jewish community so what went wrong and did

things go wrong as I face now these challenges as the chairman of the

Executive of the Jewish Agency I see the picture in a bird's-eye view and I see

an enormous historical challenge in fact two main two huge Jewish communities

have developed each one in an evolutionary process of its own six and

a half million Jews in Israel six and a half million Jews in North America

something which I term as Jerusalem and. Babylon and I say in ancient times

Jerusalem and Babylon each created their own Talmud and they had a dialogue of

their own and actually in the sources which we read even some sort of an

affectionate relationship but where do we take it from here because we clearly

understand that the simmering from within of those communities can lead

either to a to growing disparate and god forbid to split of two

throughout communities altogether Oh making sure that we are one strong

united nation of Jews all throughout the world by the way with these two main

communities and living together amidst differences this is a this is the moment

of truth of our communities because if we miss this opportunity we may lead our

nation to one of its biggest tragedies that is why when we speak about the

Israel and American Jewish community the state of the relationship you can't just

crystallite and saves it say good or bad you have to understand the overall

picture the overall picture is that even by current data which was published

yesterday for example in a research poll of the Rubin Ruderman Family Foundation

there is still an enormous love of. Israel on both sides of the ocean

definitely here however there are people members and there are many groups in in

in the American Jewish community which are growing a disappoint which have

growing disappointment with the State of. Israel which are challenging and asking

questions which creates a certain divisive atmosphere in many quarters of

the Jewish world and which challenges us to do our utmost to change this course

so first let's analyze the two communities Israel is an ever-evolving

Society whereby the Jewish identity is given with a large non-jewish minority a

very vibrant and active Israeli political system which is known to you

and we will discuss it and you can ask about the 10th election no problem

but but clearly people grow in a certain atmosphere into understanding their

identity and the perception of life is different from the perception of life of

people who are growing here it's not from here

Judaism is out of choice you don't have to declare it anywhere and you have to

create institutions that maintain Jewish identity and continuity and what it is

to be Jewish and is there an interdependence with Israel or not so

under such circumstances it is clear to me that my son who serves in a combat

unit in the IDF is growing in to a different perception of life than any

one of your kids who has not been to. Israel let's say and grows into it

differently here that's that's the way it is and therefore it is our duty and

we must find ways and means to at least get to understand each other

one thing is clear to me Israelis in general I have no real basic knowledge

of what it is to be Jewish abroad and especially in North America and they

have no knowledge of the wealth of. Jewish life and the uniqueness of Jewish

streams and the diversity of what it is to be Jewish and North American jury

doesn't have much of a clue about what. Israel is all about they think they know

and I'm not talking to all those of you who have been living in Israel or

spending time okay I'm talking in general and that is why it is about time

that after a few generations of lack of knowledge that we make this bring this

knowledge together actually technology and humanity enable us to do it in a

much better way so that's where we enter in as the Jewish Agency as being the

largest and biggest Jewish organization in the world it is an organization which

was founded 90 years ago by resolution of voltage international community in

the Zionist institution commit to bring about the creation of the State

of Israel and we did I sit in the room in which David been going on sat in in

Jerusalem our office in Jerusalem a historical building and from where he

went to declare the State of Israel and these walls speak to me every day I go

back and go into the office there after we were commissioned to bring Aliyah and

we brought in so far millions of volume and this year we brought 35,000 35,000

from 45 countries including 400 from this area only but predominantly in

there in this age in this era and through my predecessors time not on

Sharansky in my time we put our heavy focus on the story of the jewish

collective at large all around the world predominantly in creating a togetherness

a connectivity between Jews wherever they are and Israel at heart and

especially between Jews of North America and Jews in a state or and the people of

the state of Israel this is a huge challenge for us and we focus every day

on it and we have bring forward programs that are trying to touch as many Jews as

possible so for example we bring in tens of thousands of young Jews to Israel to

immersive experiences of all kinds from the birthright program all the way down

to leadership programs in a year-long program in master program

onward programs and so forth and we move to bring here emissaries in a variety

she team in a variety of venues from 18-year old gap year slash aim direction

she named who live here in communities and families and operate throughout

institutions you to fellows on campuses including incredible fellows here on

campus as well as all over the United. States bringing forward the message of

Israel and also confronting questions about the State of Israel or people of

course or trying to undermine its legitimacy we also

creating partnerships all throughout the. United States and the Jewish world with

communities in Israel and we also twinning schools between Israeli schools

and and Jewish schools or other schools all over the world and we are creating a

whole set and package of programs as well as investing strongly both on the

safety and well-being of Jews around the world down to creating what one would

call the the pillar of Jewish identity and and an affinity with the State of

Israel and in this respect we don't shy away from anything we don't shy away

from discussing the conflict discussing the issue of religion and state

discussing the differences between the communities so that once people get to

know each other just like in a family you can definitely have differences and

even arguments but they at least you hope you strive for a love of your

family members all throughout your life. I'm not avoiding the fact that there's a

big political elephant in the room and that is natural we live in a very

politicized era well a lot of of I would say rules of the game that we knew from

the past have changed we live in a very complex political era but I clay and say

to everybody that it is our duty at least the duty that I seek for myself

and this is what brought me on board to leave the political system and take this

humongous challenge of unifying the. Jewish people is the fact that I believe

that you cannot look at the Jewish people in the immediate sense you have

to go way beyond the question of who leads which nation and who votes for

whom and understand that there's something much bigger that history

teaches us that where we paid the most the most critical price of our Jewish

identity and independence was when we were split and divided amongst ourselves

and when we didn't understand that there's something much bigger

then being a arguing day in there out on this or that issue but rather understand

that there's a major question of how and where they are we leading our nation

together despite the differences we are a very very pluralistic nation we are

dispersed all amongst the nation's we are about 15 plus million people

actually a drop in the sea in a sea of seven and a half billion human beings

and therefore we have to look straight far into the future in order to make

sure that we maintain from generation to generation this torch of Jewish life all

over the world especially in these two great communities which can support each

other enrich each other strengthening each other and educate

each other and that is exactly why it is so important to be here the Nazarian

Center because it puts the issue of what. Israel is all about in the west coast in

an objective academic way that enables us to have a dialogue and a discourse

about these issues so I thank you all very much for being here and we don't

with Professor Waxman we will hold a conversation and thereafter I will

welcome your questions as much as you want on anything you want I don't

promise I'll answer everything but I'll be willing to hear thank you very much

so thank you so much for those actually. I found some optimistic remarks and you

you you touched on the relationship and some of the issues that stake and I want

to in the time that we have to dig into some of the the current sources of

tension some of the challenges in the relationship between American Jewry in

Israel and then hopefully if we have some time talk more broadly about the

the role of the Jewish Agency so in terms of the we heard the president give

his State of the Union address the last night this is a kind of State of the

Union address this evening about the state of the luminary nobody's tiring

anything up how do we asset we hear a lot of we're here

of discussion about the the growing rift between Israel and American Jewry based

upon your remarks I think you you you alluded to a sense that really there's a

more of a natural evolution that there's going to be some divergence because of

their different life circumstances and historical circumstances but that's

certainly true but they're also obviously some specific stresses the

Ruderman the survey you mentioned about that was just commissioned by the

Ruderman Family Foundation identified some of these sources of stress I want

us to by the way we see it in our own data we have our own research tools and

it's quite similar to this report so so one of the issues which your predecessor

spent a lot of time tackling was the issue of religious pluralism in Israel

and this has been and particularly the question of the treatment of

non-orthodox genomes of Judaism many. American Jews the vast majority of

American Jews are not Orthodox and many of them have really felt let down if not

even betrayed by what they see is this kind of second-class treatment in Israel

the Netanyahu aski tried to broker an agreement that would allow non Orthodox

Jews and women to to have a dedicated press base at the Western Wall as we all

know he failed to although he reached an agreement Prime Minister Netanyahu

ultimately abandoned that greement at the behest of his ultra-orthodox

coalition partners for many American. Jews that sent a message that their

concerns their needs are secondary to. Israeli politics and in particular

because of the influence of the ultra-orthodox and Israeli politics what

hope is there for not for American Jews to believe that their concerns on

religious pluralism can be addressed isn't the message that Israeli political

calculations and coalition negotiations will always trump the interests of a

community who don't reside in Israel and don't vote in Israeli elections so first

of all I want to say that that was the lowest point ever in the Israel

community in North America relationship and clearly a watershed of a lot of pain

and angst between the two sides hey I the the compromise which Newton

tried to broker was based on the fact that I brokered this originally what's

called the Robinson's arch prayer site back in 1999 when I was cabinet

secretary in Barack's government and I negotiated the entire agreement between

the ultra-orthodox all the way down to the conservative in the four movements

and that prayer site served 220 years with no problems at all because of

fights which I don't want to go into right now who's to blame believe me it's

not you can't just blame one or the other it erupted into a conflict which

was led were brought to court and from court to a compromising from account

from compromised it was rescinded and clearly looms over

but there there are two issues I want to point out number one is it is a very

important issue okay for the recognition of other means of expressing Judaism

practicing Judaism is something vital in the dialogue it has to be there and I

just said that there's a lack of knowledge I I can say outright that what

we do in Israel day in day out is to teach the Israeli public about what it

is to be Jewish abroad and part of it has to do with the fact that we have so

many returning Schliemann emissaries that are coming back with this knowledge

and experience that they've never experienced before had you been with me

in the meeting with our Shin Cheney and see him out there in the other room

you'd have heard things that were mind-boggling and enlightening about the

experience they're going as average. Israelis who for the first time or

expose to a different type of Judaism and this

is exactly what they're doing when they come home and talk to Israelis so my

feeling here and I said I'll explain I'd say two things this is one thing saying

you cannot give up hope because there are undercurrents in Israeli society

which were opening up to the idea that there are other means of practicing

Judaism abroad which are brought to the knowledge of Israeli society in many

ways including by the way the growth of the reform and conservative movements in

Israel the other issue is of course that right now and I say it outright it's not

that Israel sees anybody of the Jewish people as a second-rate citizen August

it's absolutely wrong anyone wants to make aliyah for example is immediately

citizen of Israel it is the Abba notice the rabbinic establishment by its unique

standing in the legal system in Israel by law which on certain issues does not

recognize the practice of reform and conservative it's totally different and

I urge against this discourse which puts. Israel always at the blame and part of

it then simmers down to young Jews here we're hearing this music and turning

away from the idea that there's one the nation-state of the Jewish people

because of course it has evolved out of historical developments you know the

reform movement first stepped in Israel basically in the 1960s the first

congregation started in the 1960s originally there for movement who didn't

even recognize ionizer it was a violent children Stephen wises who's

commemorated here in a wonderful synagogue in LA who led the Zionist

movement but they were adult daywear leaders who change history took a long

time since from the inception of that move

meant in the United States until they took over so in a way the historical

developments were different not only that Israel started as a

secular state with a smaller Orthodox a group of Jews in it and then in the

group that grew up in a natural course of history by the way they're all

citizens of Israel so these are therefore the blame game is the last

thing to do I'm trying to do whatever I can to contain that fireman and lead to

a dialogue I'm going to all quarters of the earth I'm going to all the most

Orthodox rabbis in Israel and talk to them about what it is to be Jewish

abroad and explain to them out of great respect what it is and how they lack the

knowledge that's necessary to understand the current state of Judaism abroad

especially in North America and by the way no one no one says they are not

Jewish no one it's not true only some politicians said it and I think they

regret it and then of course I go to. North America like I'm standing here in

front of you and saying dear friends you have to understand the intricacies of

Israel and the multi-faceted nature of. Judaism in Israel in order to understand

where we where where we are and where we can be there are a lot of changes all

communities in Israel are simmering from within they're all asking questions many

are changing the world upside down but you never hear about it because

naturally when you open CNN you only one thing

and when you open Israel immediate you only hear one other thing but there's

life underneath and when there's life underneath it's an opportunity to

introduce each other to speak to each other and understand it I can tell you

for example that members of the Knesset which we are bringing to Jewish

communities in America some of them never travelled abroad or some of them

first-timers arriving in the community some seeing a synagogue of a

conservative movement first time in their life or a for

movement or reconstruction and it mind boggles them we are working with the

Ministry of Education in Israel to introduce to the curriculum a program

which teaches young Israelis what it is. Jewish life abroad very important so it

means the few what we called our mid about few desert generations generations

that didn't devote time and attention to it if you ask average Israelis it's not

the top of the priority and therefore you have to educate you have to explain

you have to expose and same goes here okay clearly goes here and I'm asked of

asked on sheets in him how does your adopting parents they live with Jewish

families are they caring about this and they never bother did ever think about

Israel or do they know what it is it it is interesting to note that how many men

you have no clue as well so therefore we at least there's one big body but many

others of course and the Federation system and many other organizations in

the Israel American Council and others who are trying now to meet this

challenge by a variety of programs and and in ways to deliver the message to

each other so that was an optimistic answer and I appreciate that obviously

there are a lot of challenges in terms of the the growth of the ultra-orthodox

population in Israel their political power the pressure that they get from

their followers this the rabbi's can appreciate these things even in the case

of the cartel agreement I think it was the followers the grassroots which I was

the unanimous decision of the Cabinet of. Israel with all the Orthodox parties in

the nation and then there was an uproar right we saw the social networks and I

am drilling down to fine and see who were those who proposed and it's trying

to explain to them how what a tragic mistake it was it's a huge tragic

mistake because the ability to enable each and every Jew around the earth to

to enjoy their moment of I would say faith in the cotton is a huge obligation

of. I think there's nothing like the Kotel

and interestingly enough I must tell you that since I'm reading a lot in order to

have a dialogue the original position of the Zionist movement on the cotton to

the British Mandate was submitted in unanimity between the Chief Rabbinate

and theologians and professors in a paper which was written by professor

rabbi Cyrus Adler who's the head of the. Jewish Theological Seminary in America

so I I want to turn to another issue that is also of course one of the big

sources of tension in many ways the most contentious issue in the relationship

certainly in recent years which has been the issue the issue of the

israeli-palestinian conflict and the concerns that many American Jews have

about Israel's treatment of the. Palestinians and related to that the

concerns about settlement building in the West Bank as you know most American

Jews a proposed settlement building favorite two-state solution and

repeatedly in these surveys they said this is an issue that has affects their

attitudes not to the State of Israel but to Israeli governments now it seems that

Israeli settlements in the West Bank may soon become part of Israel itself and

the prospects for a resolution of the conflicts seem despite last week's

announcement seen increasingly slim given that isn't is it even possible to

draw these communities together when you have this great source of friction there

and if Israel continues to control the. West Bank and the 2.7 million

Palestinians who live there won't that continue to drive apart these two

communities particularly with a younger generation of American Jews who as you

know are more critical of Israel more willing to express that criticism there

clearly that's a very thorny issue which is derived from two-way so this one is I

think a lack of knowledge of the intricacies of the conflict like a very

short-sighted memory if you ask a young. Jew here do you remember that Israel

pulled out of Gaza in 2005 do you know what we went to are you

aware of what it was the process are you aware how we went to our

brothers and sisters and uprooted them from their homes after decades promising

them that we will bring the Hong Kong of the Middle East to Gaza so there's kind

of a very short circuited memory in this dialogue in this in this process people

don't remember who offered what when who said yes and who said no and the other

issue of course has to do with the fact that it's an issue of perception of life

and I don't derogate and you can take all my speeches as leader of the

opposition and as candidate for Prime. Minister I said my first priority as

Prime Minister would be to travel to a. Ramallah and speak to young Palestinians

Israelis don't say that anymore in the elections but I did say and yet I must

tell you that there is a superficiality of the discourse here in America not

talking about experts I'm talking about the public the super sphere it is a

superficial discussion and it of course impacts the way young Jews are looking

at the country because naturally when you look at the facts themselves one has

to ask many questions of the. Palestinians as well how come you always

say no and how come for years and years and years you are entrenched in the

misunderstanding of the changes around you the Arab world has gone way far

beyond it to accommodate Israel than you guys and how far and and when did you

have last hold an election in your own camp and how bust is your political

system so you can always blame the blame game is the easiest way to escape

reality okay but one has to look at all the facts and the facts are extremely

complex we i we definitely make mistakes and we have very sad moments of making

mistakes that we are very saddened with as human beings I can tell you like I

know I know from my children in the army how much of a debate the reason it is

on the purity and what we call the purity of all of the of the army of the

military and how to make sure not to offend but there are tragedies we have

human beings who violate human you know the human rights as well unfortunately

and they are indicted and they're put to trial and they're investigated and the

biggest toniest issue in the political system in israel in the last few years

was a young soldier who killed the terrorists to try to stop it and his

parents in the half of the nation amassed around him and that is because

there are behavior modes in human beings which are not always cerebral but our

emotional and you cannot judge somebody who says you know if somebody

accomplished no get harsh cameo it somebody comes to kill you kill him

first so these are big debates but nobody really delved into it because

each one lives in his own way of dealing with the flow of information that floods

so the so the information comes in a none kind of unobjective way doesn't

tell all sides of the story and then for young jews overwhelmed by things they

are faced with when they come to campus we are trying to correct that by having

enabling them to see and learn including all intricate sides of the conflict I

think for many American Jews who are pro-israel and and do support Israel the

concern today is they see they worry as do many Israelis about this drift into a

way from Israel's possibility as a. Jewish and democratic state the fear

particularly at this moment in time that there are they were growing challenges

at annexation being a foremost among them to Israel's continued existence as

a Jewish and democratic state which is I am very much aware of it and I you know

I let the camp that is extremely worried about it but I must be extremely

objective and fair we are a very vibrant strong Democratic Democratic Society

and not only that may I add look you know people try to kind of be sarcastic

about the fact that we are in a third elections and I was myself here as well

but the truth of the matter is whether we like it or not there is there is a

major political argument in the nation and we are trying to resolve it by means

of a democratic process so there's no other way we could go into violence god

forbid I pray everyday that there won't be violence but I am proud of the fact

that every night for the last year there are political rallies with thousands of

people on both sides of the camp trying to convince each other and I'm proud of

the fact that the spectrum of the political system in Israel ranges from

Muslim Brotherhood well in our. Parliament when there's no other

Parliament in the world which recognizes. Muslim Brotherhood expects no other

there are outlawed throughout the Middle. East except perhaps in a country which

is our main enemy and they are part and parcel of the democratic political

process and they can say whatever they want and sometimes they say things that

you are what you go nuts but that's the way democracy is and I'm proud of the

fact that it is an Arab judge who threw our president to jail and I'm proud of

the fact that the right of free speech is as white as possible and I am aware

that there are many challenges and I'm aware that there are the clouds out

there of forces who want to tie the hands of the legal system and the court

system and and mitigating the availability of the media we know that

but that's not only in Israeli phenomena that's a question for democracies all

over the world since we live in an era of hate and fear as the code word in

modern day politics and not only that using the lowest common denominator of

human beings and since we live in an era where social net

works are uncensored and the dirt of human behavioral mode comes on them that

impacts everything including the rise in anti-semitism but of course naturally it

also happens in every society and we are not different for anybody else although

we want to think we are so we have a challenge as leaders as one would say

they the big silent majority which wants a responsible and same political system

and I'm still very proud of our political system and and I believe that

some of these views that are sent all over the world to young Jews as if

Israel Israel are over and out and this is a fascist country I think it's a huge

distortion of the picture absolutely and by the way I'm telling you outright they

aren't most large majority in Israel would go for a deal with the

Palestinians any day if there was also a serious partner on the other side I

agree that in the current era of the current leadership's it's not viable but

it is not over it's possible you can reach an agreement and had I told you

let's say 20 years ago or even 10 years ago even five years ago that the

majority of the Arab leaders around us our main partners in so many things your

joke at me and say it's ridiculous well. I have news for you

so therefore history changes things change realities change and if this

realities change peace can be carved out we have for this we have to make sure

that whatever we do there is no tera base in our doorstep and whenever we

offer peace and a vision of peace we must make sure that nobody will use it

in order to undermine our existence and the problem is let's be frank I did

mention it we pulled out of Gaza to the last iota and we got 10,000 missiles

let's be frank about it it's something that we need to face as a reality

question that we have to supply to our own voters members who cast the

every day and I think there are many solutions to that question and things

that we must be dealt with and I think it requires the willpower of all leaders

in the region to take a bold step that's how I see it and therefore whilst not

taking a position on the planet peace plan and that was presented last week

there are pros and cons etc etc I believe that all in all the idea of

bringing about the discourse in a discussion about peace in the Middle

East is important so I have many more questions to ask you but I'm also I want

to give the audience opportunity to ask one thing I would like you to mention

before we open up to questions from the audience is the issue that's a growing

concern here American Jewry which is anti-semitism in the United States and

one of the concerns I think and i would be remissed me not to point this out

that many American Jews felt was that the Israeli government hasn't

necessarily been as responsive to their fears here in the United States for

example in the aftermath of that. Pittsburgh shootings that the concern

that the Israeli government didn't seem to immediately was formed how duplicate

in the need particularly to retain a very close relationship with the US

administration in the White House how challenging is it for Israeli government

or maybe this is the world of the Jewish. Agency to be sounding the alarm and

pointing to what are the real threats to. Jewish life we we have put the fight

against anti-semitism in global Jewish safety as a utmost priority in this era

and we are doing whatever we can with many other allies and colleagues and

organizations of utmost importance such as ADL and

see and may breathes and others including multinational organizations

and and national organizations and governments all over the world to move

forward with a multi-tier approach one is to make sure that Jews are protected

everywhere and every Jew can practice his or her religion and belief has

choose anywhere around the globe with no fear in harassing this is a must and we

live in a bad era there's a major rise in anti-Semitic attacks and events all

over the world all the time constantly and in the United States the United

States has a strong government and a federal and state and municipal that is

and of course the FBI and police that are taking care of these issues I don't

need to remind of teach anybody neither does the State of Israel about the need

to do that I can tell you that communities I'm very proud of the

efforts of the Jewish Federations of. North America and the local Federation

of taking care of the security of communities under their domain

nonetheless it is a major issue in it requires a multi tier approach one is

protection and and and and security for all communities in this respect we have

our own Security Assistance Fund which is safe literally saved lives of Jews

all over the world we've helped hundreds of institutions Jewish institutions all

over the world with installations and equipment and assistance as much as they

need the second one second tier is legislation and adjudication strong

legislation draws strong law enforcement adopting the wide-ranging definition

granted semitism who by the international Holocaust Remembrance the

lines and finally but most importantly is that you cater and we have a huge

problem of Education all over the world as the memory of the Holocaust is fading

away as social networks of the way means to express oneself without restraint and

as the questions of the tension between free speech as wide as possible

and close and immediate danger to other people is the equilibrium that we are

dealing with the death all over the world including in the United States and

so they much initial not on our campuses as well