RUTH KING
 
May 14th, 1948
 
This Government has been informed that a Jewish State has been proclaimed in Palestine and recognition has been requested by the provisional Government thereof.
The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.
Harry S. Truman

These simple, straightforward words by the President of the United States were released to the press before they were made available to the State Department or to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. A day later the Arabs declared war, a war that has continued to this day, notwithstanding temporary truces, agreements, lulls in activity, two peace treaties (with Egypt and Jordan) and so called “peace processes.”

In spite of the overwhelming numerical odds,  Israel won the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 (more accurately these were battles in the ongoing war). Israel has been less successful politically than militarily, frequently embarking on counterproductive, and in the case of Oslo, suicidal actions in pursuit of the chimera of peace with Arab enemies who have interpreted these actions, as Steven Plaut has put it, as evidence Israel is "on the run, exhausted, unwilling to fight, and ready to capitulate." 

And yet, Israel is a nation that has so much to be proud of. It has welcomed and successfully absorbed millions of Jews from the most disparate backgrounds, beginning with the death camps of Europe. Wherever Jews live under threat they know there is the welcoming harbor of a Jewish State. 

Israel has developed a superb military in which the overwhelming majority of citizens serve, where volunteering runs high for the most dangerous and difficult units. Israel has outstanding scientific institutions; its research and development of new medical technologies are cutting edge.  Israeli contributions to computer science and production are second only to those of Silicon Valley (and many Silicon Valley companies maintain branches in Israel). Israel's advanced weapons technology is world-recognized and Israel's agricultural achievements have made her expertise widely sought after. Israel's artistic world abounds with performers, writers, painters, novelists and composers. There are advanced social institutions to protect the population’s national and civil rights. In Israel's free wheeling democracy, there are many newspapers, endless debate and a million opinions on everything from the direction of the nation to the best recipes for brisket. Religious shrines -- Jewish, Christian, Moslem, Bahai -- are scrupulously maintained and guarded.

Those who seek the pioneering spirit can easily find it among the settlers. One remarkable example is the brave woman who took her two toddlers and one infant-in-arms to start a new community in the arid hills above Hebron where only rodents and spiders lived. She set up a tent and put down an oriental carpet and potted plants. She hung up a mezuzah and invited the gathering journalists and photographers from the New York Times into her new home.

When one considers that the Arab war against Israel -- the multi-Arab state attacks of Israel's War of Independence and of 1967,  the sneak attack on Yom Kippur of 1973, the so-called "intifada," the unrelenting terrorism -- has not abated for a single moment of its existence,  Israel is indeed a miracle.

Every birthday is a milestone and every hour in Israel’s existence in such difficult circumstances is Israel’s finest hour. Despite everything, Israelis have kept their courage and their decency, never sinking to the level of their enemies.  Israel is the source of our confidence in every corner of the Diaspora. It is the locus of our prayers and our aspirations to survive and thrive as a people.

In the finest meaning of the words, Israel remains a light unto the nations. Happy birthday Israel.