[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 51 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3958-S3959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ISRAEL'S BIRTHDAY

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today we celebrate the 50th birthday 
of the State of Israel, a birthday reached after half a century of 
struggle, of perseverance, and on too many occasions, for too many 
families, of pain. We also celebrate half a century of vision--and hope 
above all else that when we join together to recognize the 100th 
birthday of the State of Israel we will do so in an age of lasting 
peace.
  It is only fitting that the sense of joy that has accompanied this 
historic milestone for Israel here in the United States is exceeded 
only within the borders of Israel itself. Israel and the United States 
share great ideas as well as a great alliance; and the security of 
Israel is indispensable to the security of the United States.
  We accept this fact as central to our foreign policy, to our national 
interests, and to our view of the world itself. It has been true since 
the day of Truman and we pray this truth will guide us through the next 
millennium.
  But we sometimes forget that these two great nations--the United 
States of America and the State of Israel--share another rare quality, 
as Prime Minister Netanyahu stated so eloquently. Neither country is 
just a spot on the map, a piece of geography; both are founded on a 
shining vision of human dignity and purpose.
  It was an American poet who wrote, ``Nothing grows, unless first a 
dream.'' Those like Elie Weisel remind us that not even dreams survive 
without a great struggle. The Jewish people have taught us much about 
dignity and purpose because they have preserved their dream and their 
undying vision through two thousand years in exile and persecution. To 
arrive at this historic day they had to outlast history's fiercest 
fires of hate.
  That resilience is testimony to a vision forged in adamantine; to the 
strongest wills and the bravest hearts; an unbreakable spirit that keep 
Israel alive and daring even into the twenty-first century. It is that 
same will that we all pray will guide Israel to an era of peace in the 
Middle East.
  Tonight we pay tribute to those who will never see that era of 
harmony, that day when Israel is a homeland and a safe haven for all 
who share in that vision. We remember those who died in the hope that 
even if they could not know peace and safety, those who bore their name 
might live the dream for them. That sacrifice inspires us all to push 
forward.
  I will never forget that when, addressing age old violence and the 
awful spectacle of man's inhumanity to man, Prime Minister Rabin 
exclaimed ``Enough is enough.'' He touched a chord within anyone who 
mourns an innocent life lost, who thinks about the future doctor, 
teacher, nurse, scientist, poet, diplomat, or artists that will never 
be. Behind all the words and diplomatic documents, shrouded by the haze 
of the gunfire, that is the reality that must be changed before it 
happens again and again.
  On my first trip to Israel, I toured the country from Kibbutz Mizgav 
Am to Masada to the Golan. I stood in the very shelter in a kibbutz in 
the north where children were attacked and I looked at launching sites 
and impact zones for Katousha rockets. Like many visitors, I was 
enthralled by Tel Aviv, moved by Jerusalem and inspired by standing 
above Capernaum, looking out over the Sea of Galilee, where I read 
aloud the Sermon on the Mount. I met people of stunning commitment, who 
honestly and vigorously debated the issues as I watched and listened 
intently. I went as a friend by conviction; I returned a friend at the 
deepest personal level.
  That understanding, that sense of kinship, is shared not just between 
a set of leaders or between families, but by two nations with a shared 
faith in the power of the human spirit. The United States and Israel 
will walk forward together
  Herzl's famous words, ``If you will it, it is no dream,'' signify the 
promise and the greatest power of Israel--and the hope, after half a 
century, that a fair and secure peace is finally within reach. For our 
part as Americans, we must dedicate ourselves to pushing ahead in the 
coming years more committed than ever to support Israel in the 
exacting, essential, and sometimes tense search for that dream.
  A pain which the heart can never forget reminds us that the ashes of 
Holocaust victims were scattered on the wind. But that wind also 
carries on it their prayers and purpose--above mountains and sea, 
across hundreds or thousands of miles, so that the pain of history is 
redeemed in the land of Israel. It is a sacred place--for those who 
have made it their home and for all the world. So let us now resolve 
again that in the next fifty years, as in the past five decades, we 
will make our best efforts to keep secure this sacred land.
  In many respects, our task as Americans, as a good ally and a 
committed world neighbor, appears easier in the reflection of history. 
The memory will never escape me, the emotions that touched me on top of 
Masada, when I stood on that great plateau where the oath of new 
soldiers used to be sworn against the desert backdrop and the test of 
history. I had spent several hours with Yadin Roman debating whether or 
not in fact Josephus Flavius was correct in his account of the siege--
whether these really were the last Jews fighting for survival--

[[Page S3959]]

whether they had escaped since no remains were ever found. Finally, 
after our journey through history, which we resolved with a vote in 
favor of history as recorded, we stood as a group at the end of the 
cliff and altogether we shouted across the chasm--across the desert and 
across time--Am Yisrael Chai. And across the silence we listened as 
voices came back; faintly we heard the echo of the souls of those who 
perished--Am, Yisrael Chai. The State of Israel lives. The people of 
Israel live.
  We must do our part to see that future generations are born into and 
live in a peace that will never be questioned.
  We celebrate half a century of struggle and victory for the people of 
Israel, living every day in a dream that is timeless. We pray tonight 
for a peace for all the ages.

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