Elizabeth—The excitement in the room was palpable as RTMA Principal Rabbi Peretz Hochbaum informed the RTMA and Bruriah seniors that their esteemed guest speaker, Danny Ayalon, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. had arrived. In recognition of the RTMA and Bruriah students accepted into YU Honors, YU brought Ambassador Ayalon to JEC to speak, and these seniors were attentive and ready to hear every word he had to say.
Ayalon has served as a member of the Knesset, was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009-2013, and Ambassador to the U.S. between 2002 and 2006. A seasoned politician and government advisor to three Israeli prime ministers, he is currently the president of Hod Ayalon, a private consulting firm for governments and international corporations. Ayalon holds an MBA from Bowling Green, and served as a captain in the IDF.
Barak Hagler, RTMA senior, preceded Ayalon with some brief introductory remarks to his fellow students, emphasizing the importance of the centrality of Israel in our lives as Jews and responsibility to carry that message with them during their college careers. Hagler’s remarks were the perfect segue for Ayalon, who began his address by bestowing on the students and all of world Jewry the collective responsibility for the preservation of the people of Israel, all Jews everywhere, and to our national home, the land of Israel—regardless of one’s country of residence.
Ayalon went on to describe his perception of the strategic shift in modus operandi of the enemies of Israel. He noted that once Israel became a state with defendable borders like any other state or country, the “pogrom-style” elimination efforts stopped. But as soon as the “Palestinian” nationality was invented, the propaganda of empathy and entitlement laid the groundwork for the decades of terrorist activities that followed. More recently, as Israel has armed itself against external attack, the anti-Israel and antisemitic forces have realized that terrorist efforts, while frustrating to Israel, were largely fruitless. What they needed was to discredit Israel and create a modus vivendi for Israel’s elimination.
Ayalon went on to describe the new anti-Israel efforts that employ a world-wide campaign— initiated successfully in Europe and now spreading its net to smaller and diverse nations—designed to alienate Israel politically and economically, and to create a wedge between Israel and its allies. Israel needs to step up its branding and create a formidable and pro-active campaign of its own, to set the record straight and expose the lies through its economic and social evidence, not just dialog.
Ayalon concluded by restating that the Jewish people belong to Israel, and Israel belongs to the Jewish people. He also stated the importance of using social media to enlarge the net of accurate information and positive perspective about Israel. To wit, he produced a short video series on YouTube: “The Truth about the Israel Palestinian Conflict,” seen by 1.5 million viewers. He urges everyone to watch and share.
You can view Danny Ayalon’s address at the JEC in its entirety by logging on to the JEC’s YouTube video http://youtu.be/mFcsP-_7yiE.
By Ellie Wolf
