This Week in Jerusalem

Aaron Keyak — March 22, 2013 – 10:14 am | Barack Obama | Israel Comments (0) Add a comment

I’ve been on the ground in Israel this week during President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Israel and I had the privilege to witness his powerful speech at the Jerusalem convention center. The President declared to the Israeli people:

I’ve borne witness to the ancient history of the Jewish people at the Shrine of the Book, and I’ve seen Israel’s shining future in your scientists and your entrepreneurs. This is a nation of museums and patents, timeless holy sites and ground-breaking innovation. Only in Israel could you see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the place where the technology on board the Mars Rover originated at the same time….

[T]he dream of true freedom finally found its full expression in the Zionist idea—to be a free people in your homeland. That’s why I believe that Israel is rooted not just in history and tradition, but also in a simple and profound idea—the idea that people deserve to be free in a land of their own….

Those who adhere to the ideology of rejecting Israel’s right to exist might as well reject the earth beneath them and the sky above, because Israel is not going anywhere. Today, I want to tell you ... that so long as there is a United States of America, Ah-tem lo lah-vahd. You are not alone.

If you missed the speech, click here to watch it.

From announcing new discussions on a 10-year security aid agreement and emphasizing the importance of peace to reiterating his promise to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, President Obama has used his time in Israel to its full potential. He held meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Shimon Peres, inspected an Iron Dome battery, visited the Dead Sea Scrolls and Mt. Herzl, and received Israel’s Medal of Distinction. You can see the highlights of Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 on NJDC’s blog.

NJDC helped to get the word out about the President’s trip. I published an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post called “What the American President Knows About Passover,” while NJDC Chair Marc R. Stanley touted his pride in the President’s pro-Israel diplomacy in Israel’s Ynet. NJDC’s Executive Committee member Josh Rolnick wrote in The Times of Israel that Israelis were finally meeting the friend that they’ve always had, while our good friend former Representative Mel Levine previewed President Obama’s speech in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. In addition, our analysis of the trip was carried in leading media outlets.

As we gather next week to celebrate Passover, we remember that we were once slaves in a strange land and recall the miracles that made our freedom possible. While we were miraculously rescued from the ancient pharaoh’s rule, our people have been relentlessly persecuted, targeted for genocide, and hated by too many ever since.

But what we have now is the power to ensure that we remain free because we have a strong Jewish state of Israel, which means that our survival will never again have to rely on miracles alone. President Obama understands this in his kishkes. He understands the vital importance of Israel being able to defend itself by itself and that the U.S.-Israel alliance is unbreakable.

When we recall our people’s history next week, let’s also remember how remarkable the times are that we currently live in.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,

Aaron

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