Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America has issued the following statement on the occasion of Israel’s 69th Anniversary:
“Sixty-nine years ago, the modern, reborn Jewish state of Israel emerged on the expiry of British rule. Today we celebrate with heartfelt joy this most extraordinary event in Jewish and world history, the rebirth of our nation after 2000 years of exile, statelessness and horrific persecution culminating in the Shoah.
“This is an event in world history. Which other people, its sovereign existence destroyed in antiquity, has returned to its home and created a modern, living, vibrant, independent state? We also see in Israel’s rebirth the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
“A little over seventy years ago, Jews were being sadistically tortured and murdered across Europe. Jews were being gassed by the thousands on a daily basis. Had there been a Jewish state, it may have been possible to save many of those lives lost.
“We can truly give thanks that, today, the Jewish nation is independent and in command of its own destiny.
“We know that sadly, peace has not come to Israel, despite decades of negotiations and peace offers that went beyond what most Israelis, then and now deemed prudent or just. We also know that anti-Semitism, far from having been extinguished, is very much alive today. Indeed, Israel is the target of special hatred today, the new anti-Semitism of choice, as seen by the global BDS movement.
“Any international organization that can have the gall to declare that Jerusalem, or the Temple Mount, or Rachel’s Tomb or the Tomb of the Patriarch are not Jewish sites, as UNESCO did this week, demonstrates that the instinct to erase Jews and their history from the face of the earth is alive and well.
“But Israel will overcome these hurdles, big as they are.
“Fifty years from now, the Jewish community will be thriving; Israel will be in the midst of a golden age. Israel and the Jewish people will have prevailed over threats experienced today and in the near future. Worsening anti-Semitism during the next half-century’s initial years will be followed by a stronger, more united Jewish community.
The Iranian nuclear threat will soon be dealt with, one way or another. Israel has been preparing to meet this threat for years, and it will do so if and when all other avenues have failed.
“Competing radical Islamic groups will continue to wage internecine warfare, wreaking an enormous toll on the lives and economies of many of Israel’s neighbors, creating nightmare conditions and reducing these countries’ capacity to harm Israel. Arab nations and economies will collapse. European economies will also become far weaker.
“Increasing instability and anti-Semitism in Europe will cause a dramatic increase in aliyah to Israel. This will result in smaller, weaker Jewish communities in Europe, but in a stronger Israel., which will emerge as one of the world’s most stable, strong economies.
“Today’s small cadre of moderate, pro-Israel Muslim intellectuals who are working to redefine Islam in a nonviolent manner will have expanded their work and enabled new alliances.
And, in the wake of radical Islamic terrorists’ brutality towards Christians and others, non-Muslim countries will increasingly see Israel as their only true friend in the Middle East, a beacon of tolerance, light and stability in world flood with barbarism.
“For all the problems that afflict Israel, we can take tremendous pride in the vibrancy, resilience, innovation and enterprise of the modern Jewish state of Israel.”