On September 19, the One Israel Fund hosted a donor appreciation dinner at the TWA Hotel. The featured speaker, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, signed copies of his new book, “One Jewish State,” for all the attendees.
Executive VP Scott Feltman explained in his welcoming remarks: “One Israel Fund was founded 30 years ago to take care of the communities of Yehuda, Shomron and Gush Katif in Aza, focusing on education, recreation, community development, medical/health and preventive civilian security. After October 7, our team kicked into high gear. Over the past 11-plus months, we have not only raised more money than ever, but we have truly changed the face and dynamic of those communities.”
Feltman continued: “The great fear after October 7 was that Yehuda and Shomron would have a bloodbath any day. They didn’t. One reason is sitting in front of me in this room tonight: your support, help, friendship. Standing with every one of those communities enabled us to distribute more security improvements, emergency medical equipment and quality-of-life projects for refugees than ever before. Our communities have not only survived the past 11 months but have grown and thrived.”
One Israel Fund President Jacqui Herman said: “October 7, is a day that we will never forget. We learned a lot that day. With your support, Yehuda and Shomron are stronger and better protected than in the past. One Israel Fund is preparing for a new Israel to emerge, stronger and more prosperous. The magnitude of One Israel-funded projects has grown substantially.”
In his introduction, One Israel Fund VP Elliott Robinson called Friedman a modern-day Nachshon ben Aminadav. Nachshon jumped into the Yam Suf, “became my personal favorite crazy Jew running into the water up to his neck,” Robinson stated. “There are numerous stories about people jumping into life opportunities.” He cited Friedman as the epitome of unifying Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. “From 2017 to 2021, our ambassador made unprecedented and historic diplomatic advances, including moving the embassy to Jerusalem, [being] a key architect in the Abraham Accords, and recognizing the Golan as part of Israel. David puts forth the design of one state, including all God’s given inheritance to Jewish people, our biblical spots in Yehuda and Shomron. Each of his premises are backed by logic, fact and history. The ‘two-state solution’ folly is nothing more than October 7 on steroids. The U.S.-Puerto Rico model offers a practical alternative for peace-loving others who want to live in a Jewish State.”
Friedman said: “I have test-marketed and advocated for these ideas. We are still a ways off from any meaningful buy-in from the vast majority of our own people, the Jewish community of America, and even Israel. This is a project we’re going to have to really work hard for. I think all of us believe it’s the right direction. I certainly do. I wrote this book for that reason. I wanted to create a sort of intellectual path to the arguments. One of the most important elements is that we need to convince our friends in Israel.”
The former ambassador detailed polling after October 7 with 80% of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria supporting what Hamas did. “Then our own country decides that the actual fix to this is to provide the Palestinians with their own state. To me, that was a triggering event forcing me to lock myself in my office for 10 weeks and write this book.”
There is no country that has been “more courageous in standing up for its minorities, even though it’s a Jewish state,” said Friedman. “It will always be a Jewish state. Israel has the best track record in the world with empowering its minorities. So who’s qualified to rule over Judea and Samaria?
“The one thing we have to do is to understand the mistake we’ve made. We’ve ceded this argument to the far right. This is an argument that you can make with your head up high. Whether you’re secular or religious, Jewish or Palestinian, however you process your information, this is a win-win for everybody. We can’t concede this to the far right, because then we lose the argument. Then it’s all about colonizing and annexation. It’s nothing about that. It’s about creating the right atmosphere for peace, security for all, that happens to be the way we fulfill the will of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the prophecies of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and, of course, even of Moses.”
Friedman concluded: “With this encouragement, every one of us has to go out and make this case. The very first step is to get this on the table as a legitimate alternative to the ‘two-state solution.’ We have to surface this position and argument, become fluent in it and then start convincing more and more people.”
