Israel’s Former Ambassador to the US To Visit DMV Jewish Community

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the September 26, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Dr. Michael Oren speaking to philanthropists at a Jewish National Fund-USA event.
Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA.

His resume is impressive, his reputation stellar and his record of accomplishments noteworthy. Dr. Michael Oren, a respected diplomat, best-selling author, renowned historian and passionate advocate for Israel, is scheduled to visit the DMV area and discuss a range of issues pertaining to Israel and the Jewish community.

Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009-2013, is in the midst of a trip to the U.S., where he is partnering with Jewish National Fund-USA, a 123-year-old Zionist organization, and speaking with Jewish communal leaders. Among the topics of conversation include Jewish National Fund-USA’s efforts to rebuild Israeli communities near the Gaza border and addressing the crisis in northern Israel, where thousands of Israelis were forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing threat posed by Hezbollah.

In addition to his tenure as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Oren’s contributions to the Jewish state include serving in various capacities in the Israel Defense Forces and as a member of Knesset.

The ongoing situation involving the hostages was on Oren’s mind as he spoke with the Washington Jewish Week for a wide-ranging interview.

“We have to try our best to secure the release of the hostages. That is not necessarily a strategic or a military goal — it’s a humanitarian and Zionist and Jewish goal at this point,” he said.

Oren expressed concern about certain perceptions regarding the Israeli government as over 100 hostages remain in captivity.

“Right now, the Biden administration is putting the blame on Hamas, saying the ball is in Hamas’ court and a great many Israelis don’t believe that. Many Israelis think that it’s Benjamin Netanyahu who has been putting up the major obstacles to a negotiation, to a deal. So actually, we don’t know the truth. It’s based on a lot of leaks and hearsay. We don’t know,” he said.

“But the impression is very important, and the impression is crucial for the state of Israel … The government, in order to ask, in order to persuade Israelis to go out to war, to leave their homes … or send their children or their parents up to war, has to have a tremendous amount of legitimacy behind it, and this government has hemorrhaged legitimacy. It went into the war with a legitimacy deficit and now it’s in severe legitimacy overdraft … The government has to have a tremendous amount of legitimacy and credibility — right now this government has neither,” Oren added.

With Israel fighting wars on multiple fronts, including against Hamas and Hezbollah, Oren spoke about what he considers to be Israel’s biggest military challenge.

“The greatest strategic threat and our priority must be in the north … 100,000 Israelis have been rendered homeless now for nearly a year, dozens have been killed and wounded, entire cities have been rendered uninhabitable … Hezbollah, backed by Iran, represents a strategic threat to the state of Israel.”

Oren, who recently spent time serving in the north for the IDF, added that “this is a war that will involve all Israelis because Hezbollah rockets can hit anywhere in Israel with great accuracy.”

As we prepare to mark one year since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Oren discussed some of the hard lessons that we learned from that fateful day.

“The primary message is never to underestimate the abject evil of our enemies … Never assume they can be in some way induced not to want to massacre us on a grand scale,” he said.

Oren also noted that “there are many technical corrections that have to be made,” citing the need to wean ourselves off an over-reliance on technology, which he said was “a big problem on Oct. 7.”

“We can never afford not to be supremely vigilant at all times … It’s very important that the people who were responsible for Oct. 7 take that responsibility and reach the right conclusion,” he said.

In addition to the war on the battlefield, Israel is also facing battles on multiple fronts — in the international arena, in the press and in the United Nations, International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.

“The most important thing Israel has to do is to recognize that the struggle over Israel’s image in the world and Israel’s legitimacy in the world is a matter of national survival. We can have the best tanks and the best planes in the world, but if we don’t have a recognized right to use those planes and tanks, they’ll be rendered next to useless. So, it certainly at the very least is about giving time and space for the IDF to defend us,” he said.

Immediately after Oct. 7, Oren created an organization called the Israel Advocacy Group, which he said is “working around the clock to defend Israel” in the media and on the diplomatic front and “filling a vacuum that’s been left by the state of Israel, which has done in terms of public diplomacy next to nothing and doesn’t even have a functioning department right now.”

From his time serving as ambassador in Washington, D.C., Oren is mindful of the importance of a maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, despite the rancor and volatility that currently exists in the American political arena.

“Israel must always strive to maintain bipartisan support. Not all Israelis believe that anymore, but I certainly do. I think that bipartisan support for Israel is a strategic national interest for the country,” he said.

“We could withdraw from Judea and Samaria tomorrow, create a Palestinian state there, re-divide Jerusalem, give up Gaza, and still, there’d be people out calling for ‘from the river to the sea’ or calling for a global intifada. So, there’s a limit to what Israel can do to impact this. What we can do is strive to maintain bipartisan support.”

As Oren speaks to American Jewish community leaders, his principal messages are clear.

“The first message is to stay with us. The American Jewish community has, since Oct. 7, exhibited just extraordinary volunteerism, philanthropy, generosity toward the state of Israel. And Israelis are deeply, deeply appreciative.”

“We also need you to give us unity,” he added. “Some of the biggest threats facing Israel today are not external; they’re internal … we really need the American Jewish community to embrace us, to give us strength.”

For Oren, there is much more work to be done in service to the land that he loves.

“It’s a definite privilege to be a Jew today, to stand up and defend our people and our state … My whole life has been about service to Israel, the Jewish people, and I will continue doing just that, particularly at this very pivotal, fateful moment in our history.”