Remarks at a reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of Israel

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 4, 1998

Thank you very much. Mr. President, Rector, all the officials of Hebrew University; Mr. Vice President, members of the Cabinet, the administration, Members of the Congress. I'd like to especially thank Dr, Dunn, Dr. Nyang, Dr. Schorsch, and Richard Dreyfuss and Linda Lavin for their wonderful contributions to this day. To Ambassador and Mrs. Ben-Elissar, thank you for being here. To all of our former Ambassadors to the United States and other distinguished guests from Israel, and my fellow Americans.

I'd also like to ask that we give a special word of appreciation to the people who provided all that wonderful music which got us in the right frame of mind, Esta band. [Applause] Thank you very much. If you could hang around here for a month or two, I think we might get some things done; you'd keep us all in a very positive frame of mind.

I am very honored to receive this degree from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, honored because its founders include Chaim Weizmann, Martin Buber, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein; honored because it is now one of the world's leading centers of learning and research.

I must say, I never expected to be doing this here. Many American universities have satellite campuses where working people like me can obtain degrees at locations near their homes and offices. [Laughter] This is more than I ever could have anticipated. [Laughter]

President Magidor, thank you for bringing this ceremony here so that those of us who cannot go to Israel in a couple of days may share in the celebration of this magnificent 50th birthday.

I accept this honor today on behalf of my predecessors, beginning with Harry Truman, nine American Presidents all devoted to Israel's security and freedom, all committed to peace in the Middle East. I accept it on behalf of the American people who have formed not just an alliance but a profound friendship with the people of Israel over these last 50 years.

Today we celebrate that extraordinary 50 years. In 1948 Israel arose from the seeds of the Diaspora and the ashes of the Holocaust. The children of Abraham and Sarah, survivors of 2,000 years of exile and persecution, were home at last and free at last. For its founders, the Israeli State was, however, about even more than securing a haven for the Jewish people after centuries of suffering and wandering. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would become "a light unto the nations," and David Ben-Gurion and his allies set out to make that prophecy come true by establishing a society of light, embracing what Ben-Gurion called the higher virtues of truth, justice, and compassion.

Ben-Gurion believed Israel could lead the world to a better future by marrying the ethical teachings of the ancients with the discoveries of modern science. "It is only by the integration of the two," he wrote, "that the blessings of both can flourish." Of course, he also envisioned a third great achievement for Israel that, with strength and wisdom and skill, Israel would build a lasting peace with its Arab neighbors.

As we have heard today, relations between our two nations were born of another leader's courage and vision. Harry Truman brushed aside the urgings of his advisers, as he often did, when they said go slow, wait and see, before offering Israel recognition. For him, supporting a Jewish homeland was a moral imperative rooted in his understanding of the suffering and dreams of the Jews from Biblical times. And as we learned from Richard's wonderful reading, it occurred just 11 minutes after Israel proclaimed independence. We, in becoming the first country to recognize Israel, had one of our proudest moments. Not only that, 50 years later, old Harry Truman looks pretty smart. [Laughter]

Look what Israel has done. Under a brilliant blue sky, the Israelis have built prosperous farms and kibbutzes, planted forests, turned streets of sand into shining boulevards, raised families, and welcomed the arrival of brothers and sisters from Europe and North Africa, from Russia and Ethiopia and America. Israelis have dazzled the world with achievements in science and scholarship, in literature and the art. They have built a thriving democracy.

And despite the passage of 50 years, Israelis seem to love and practice their freedom as if they had only just gained it. They never seem to cease challenging themselves about their history, their relationship with their neighbors, the hard choices for the future. If anyone ever wonders whether there is a place in the world where you can have freedom and honest, vigorous, 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year argument, go to Israel. [Laughter]

It is truly one of the most pulsating, vibrant places on Earth, alive with thousands of sounds, prayers in dozens of languages in the Old City, young people gathered on the avenues of Tel Aviv, computer keyboards tapping, new ventures launched on the Internet, school children now conversing in Hebrew, once the language only of sacred text now the voice of an Israeli renaissance. And the economy has been propelled by all this energy and activity into being one of the most advanced and diversified in the world, per capita income now matching nations in Europe; exports last year were $32 billion dollars, 1,000 times their level in 1948. Hi-tech companies, hi-tech people, you go to Israel; it looks as if you can't be a citizen of Israel unless you have a cell phone glued to your hand. [Laughter]