On Sunday, January 29, overshadowed by our President’s impending visit, our town was graced by the presence of another important leader. Israeli ambassador to the United States Daniel Ayalon, well known for his leading role in Roadmap for Peace (Israel’s disengagement plan), came to speak at Sherith Israel Synagogue (3600 West End Avenue) about Israel’s position in the wake of the war in Iraq and the formation of a new Palestinian state in Gaza.
Ayalon is a native of Tel Aviv and a retired captain in Israel’s armored core who served from 1993-1997 as the Director of the Bureau of Israel's Ambassador to the UN. He has served under the last three Israeli Administrations and lives in Washington with his wife and daughters…
Daniel Ayalon was very keen to identify the depth of the relationship shared by the United States and Israel with regard to trade, security and politics. He was also very clear that Israel fully supports the war on terror in Iraq and other military action. He sees great promise in the move and remarked that “the war in Iraq unleashed great energies in the Middle East, energies pushing towards freedom…in 3-5 years we will see a different Iraq which will be the basis for a changed world.”
But he was also quite clear that the road was far from clear, making several references to the dangers of Iran.
“Iran is not just Israel’s problem…Iran funds terrorism, trains terrorism…there has not been a greater threat since the Nazis 60 years ago.”
Nonetheless, he believes that “Iran has not crossed the point of no return…they can still be stopped, they should be stopped, and they will be stopped.”
Ayalon says that Israel plans for the case to go before the Security Council and hopes that Russia and China will follow their previous examples and not veto the proposal. However, he cautioned that if the Security Council proved unable to solve the matter, Israel would be forced to seek a solution outside of the United Nations.
With regard to the recent Palestinian elections, Ayalon was unwilling to make any predictions for the future, but explained that “It is now time to see how they conduct themselves and what they do for their people…we will wait for them to make the change.”