Ambassador details his hope for peace in Israel


Israel Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren believes peace can come to Israel in the not-so-distant future, possibly in the form of a two-state system.

The concept of a two-state system is not a new one, but one that comes with many challenges. Oren spoke about his hope for peace during a lecture Jan. 19 at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center.

“I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but I do think it’s possible.” Oren said. “I’m more optimistic today … than I’ve ever been in my professional career.”

The long-standing land dispute in Israel between the Jews and Palestinians has been a significant source of Middle East unrest for decades. Oren said he believes a two-state system would allow the Jews and Palestinians to live side-by-side in peace. However, he said a peace treaty also must come with the promise of secure borders for both nations and formal recognition of both states as sovereign nations.

Oren’s lecture began with a historical perspective on Israel and U.S. relations. Linking Benjamin Franklin to President Barack Obama, he said the United States has long supported the idea of a Jewish state. Oren said the founding fathers even considered making the official American seal an image of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, a concept that had the support of Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. However, a bald eagle clutching 13 arrows was eventually selected. Today, Oren said the United States is one of Israel’s strongest allies.

A native of New Jersey, Oren was appointed ambassador of Israel to the United States by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in 2009. Prior to his appointment, he served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces; in the paratroopers during the Lebanon War; a liaison with the U.S. Sixth Fleet during the Gulf War; and an IDF spokesman during the Second Lebanon War and the Gaza operation in January 2009. He acted as an Israeli Emissary to Jewish refuseniks in the Soviet Union, as an advisor to Israel’s delegation to the United Nations, and as the government’s director of Inter-Religious Affairs.

Oren is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia University. He has received fellowships from the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and from the British and Canadian governments. Formerly, he was the Lady Davis Fellow of Hebrew University, a Moshe Dayan Fellow at Tel-Aviv University, and the Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale and Georgetown.

The ambassador’s lecture is part of the prestigious Ruth K. and Shepard Broad Distinguished Lecture Series in the School of International and Public Affairs. To view a recording of the lecture, click here.

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