americans on matters affecting the middle east. including israel and palestine, and for many of us who are supporters of israel and as a homeland for jewish people, has a space state and as a pluralist state, as a community institution, politics and prose believes in a thriving and robust free-market place of ideas. quote to a new voice for israel" it simplifies the politics and prose is all about, and this legacy that carla and barbara began with the politics and prose and you come the engaged customers this legacy continues under the new ownership of brad and elis. i want to take a moment on the brief history of israel and palestine in the store. under carla's chair, the free

marketplace of ideas is very exposed in a public forum at politics and prose, the wrongheadedness the book "the israel while the sea and the foreign policy." a lot of questions, should they have a place to discuss their ideas, and carla and her team suggests, but the give-and-take of ideas exposed what they were about. politics and prose also hosted the writers to present the palestinian perspective and scholarly writers such as bernard lewis and the perceptive journalists such as tom friedman, jennifer griffin, thomas, milton and robin wright among many letters. i'm particularly proud because

at other times politics and prose has posted writers who were moral leaders in israel. more than once david grossman, amos and olive have graced our portals. now, jeremy ben ami has accomplished in his book a powerful case for a new definition of pro-israel efficacy, and i am just going to quote three sentences. victory means ensuring the long-term security and survival of israel as the democratic home of the jewish people. victory means defining borders for israel the the world recognize and gives israel enduring and legitimacy in the community of the nation's. and it means helping to ensure that israel is solidly rooted in the values, ethics and principles of the jewish people.

this is a personal book of jeremy's family deeply involved as pioneers, builders and fighters, i would say risktakers to create israel. it is also a story of jeremy's personal journey not as a young man alienated from politics or participation in the jewish activities, but it's still a journey. jeremy came to this column passion out of his american experience as an activist and one who came to resolve questions about his background combined with the assassination. now, lots of opinion data excess on what american jews think. the public agenda is often defined by a group that reflects 8% of american jews. the political playing field should not be left to this small minority. loud as it may be. there are other voices the need

to be heard in dealing with real security concerns that israel faces and overcoming those who do legitimize israel. jeremy calls for the riding of the rules on the relationship with israel so that we get beyond the yes or no proposition. we should have a serious relationship with israel and that means there is a time to hug and russell. a time to question and the time to argue. the relationship should reflect our own public, ethical and moral values, and that means there is also a time to support. it surely should increase critical thinking. we should not fear dealing with difficult issues even if they lead to initial arguments. in an jeremy's work he has shown the relationship to the israelis who run the gamut from the former security officials in the

idf capital and you might have run into some of them meeting with members of congress and orthodox and pluralist thinkers such as mosha halbertahl who represents a passion for democracy and pluralism. it is a continuing journey with much work to do. let us welcome jeremy ben-ami to politics and prose. [applause] >> thank you so much, david, and it is easy to tell that you've spent a lot of time around some very fine thinkers and writers. there was wonderful as an introduction and i am deeply honored to be here. this is my neighborhood bookstore, this is my neighborhood and the memory of

carless and the legacy that you have built is a testament to the marketplace of ideas that we think is not only the best of the political world in washington, d.c., but i hope also the best of the jewish people. so thank you very much for having me here this evening and for that wonderful introduction. there are many people in the room as well that i would like to just say thank you two and a few people who read the book in its early stages, you participated in the fact checking and research and of their work. there's a number of staff at j street and rather than running through everybody by name of one to acknowledge i have friends in the room and some people who mean a lot to me. i will have never acknowledged i brought along a little fan club just to skew the audience a little bit. so if you're thinking of asking a tough question or saying something and not so nice to just remember my wife and my

younger children are here as well and i am a very proud of them and as i say in the introduction and the dedication of the book, the work that i do and the work that we do at j street is as much for the future generations as it is for our own security in hopes and dreams and our generation today and so i'm very pleased they are here with me today. as david said, the president and founder of j street which is the pro-israel lobby and a new organization that started about three years ago to fill a vacuum in the american jewish political scene. and over the course of those three years i have been asked a lot. why did you start this organization? what motivated you personally? what are you trying to achieve? what problems are you trying to solve and what are the solutions that you are offering. and, you know, in the 21st

century they might expect me to try to tweet the answers and 140 characters or less by old-fashioned and i decided to write a book about it. and the goal of the book and what i would like to do in a few minutes tonight and leaving about is to answer some of those questions, first of all to put the story of j street and the movement we are trying to build of the pro-israel american jews into a personal and historical context. the second is to lay out some new thinking i hope and perhaps some challenging thinking on three central challenges that face those of us who care about israel and the jewish community, namely how can we ensure israel's's survival along the lines david outlined as a jewish home in the democratic state that is true to our values how can we ensure that for the long run? second, how can we change what i

consider to be anne gurley out in the book on healthy political dynamics that is around israel in american politics today? and third, how can we deal with an american jewish community that has not been willing to have as open-minded a discourse on israel and as the people and the complexity of the topics so why try to address all of those in the book and lay out some ideas. most important is i hope this book delivers a call to action because it isn't enough just to write and think about these issues. we have to act if we want to answer these issues we have to come together as a community, and try to affect the future again for the benefit not only of ourselves but future generations so those are the goals of the book. let me dillinger to those a couple minutes and then open up for what i hope will be a lively conversation. on the personal side of this, as

i leave out in the book i come by my interest in israel and commitment to a very, very honestly which is that my family is deeply rooted in the land of israel. my great grandparents were in the very first year moving from russia to israel in 1882 come and they helped to found a small settlement at the time when the word settlement was a good word for today is a thriving city of 300,000 is a suburb of another city that might founders were of televisa and my grandparents were among the 60 families who 102 years ago stood on the seashore of televisa and true seashell's out of a had to choose their lots in the original garden suburb, the first jewish garden suburb

before there was a long island there was tel aviv. [laughter] proud of this summer to go back and take my kids to the very spot and shoot them where it was that their grandparents had been part of this history and to take them to the monument in the center of the tel aviv and show their grandparents' names and so my father was born in tel aviv. he was one of the first blaze burn in tel aviv and he grew up a good socialist zionist going to a socialist youth group, talking about the creation of a more perfect jewish community devotee lead to the creation of a jewish state in the land of israel, and the book talks -- in the book i talk about his personal conversion as a young man in the wake of the 1929 riots in which many of our family members were affected and obviously as you know many people were killed.

his study abroad and his coming into contact with the right of center political thinking he shifted radically from that youth movement upbringing to become a follower in the hard right of the political zionism. he joined a terrorist organization and to others known as a freedom fighting movement, and he was one of the people who bought and all armed a ship called the al telena which was blown up and in the small world of common sense one of the generals i was escorting around washington last two days is name to shlomo gazete. so, he read the first 70 pages of the book two nights ago. i gave it to him on his first night in town and he told me i didn't realize we had this connection but i was on the beach shooting at your father. [laughter] 63 years ago this past week.

so, some of this is history in some of it is still living memory. anyhow, this all goes by way of saying that the first part of the book is a personal story. and telling how it is that i came to be rooted in the loveless israel and the concern for israel, and that's how i came to my own set of political views that much as my father sort of shifted from the left to the right, i shifted away over time from the view that my father held of these issues, and particularly post of the assassination i wanted to spend time in israel to explore these things personally. i spent three years listening and i studied and i ended up opening a business and contemplated in the late 90's after working at the white house for four years here and was nearly killed in a suicide bombing in jerusalem.

all of these defense together really help shape a rethinking of my personal philosophy when it comes to israel and to recognize that security doesn't come from strength and might alone. security has to come through political process as well as strength and security to it this isn't an either or proposition, and israel itself will be much more secure when it has both a peace agreement with its neighbors, and a qualitative military edge. neither one of those alone, in my view, would be sufficient. so, beyond the personal story, - take the book into the issues facing us today at around which we created j street and as i sit in the beginning there are three central challenges i hope the book puts in to some context and lays out some challenging ideas. the first is it relates to the

future of the state of israel itself. the president of the united states, barack obama, leader of a speech in may in which he said the past that israel is on today is unsustainable. israel cannot be both of the homeland of the jewish people and a democracy if it hangs on to all of the land between the mediterranean. it has to make a choice between those three things, the land and its space character and its jewish nature. the president is right and it's a sort of recognition that the sons and daughters of many of the hardline politicians of israel have come to realize that those who know him as a member of the party, people have spoken very movingly about the future that israel is headed towards. the leader of the opposition, the need for the two state solution to the jewish

palestinian conflict. the need for the two homelands, to people living side by side in peace and security, that is not a dream. it's not simply an aspiration, it's an absolute existential necessity to those of us who care about the future of the state of israel and if israel doesn't get the land, it will either end of sacrificing its space character which i think we are beginning to see little by little of some of the laws that are passing and some of the movements that are emerging, or it will become a one state nation in which the jews and the palestinians live together as equals citizens, and over time the jews as a minority will no longer be in control of their own destiny in their own country because the palestinians will one way or another have a homeland, and that homeland will either be the entirety of the land of israel or it will be a separate state with a border and defense and a wall and security

arrangements and the demilitarization and will live next door to israel in peace and security. so that is the first challenge i think the book lays out and as many of you are involved in j street no we have a strong position and we believe the second piece which is we need the united states to help solve this conflict. i often like in the conflict between the israelis and the palestinians to a bad marriage heading towards a divorce. you can't expect the two sides to be put at the table and the door closed and left in the air and asked to solve this on their own. it's simply not going to happen. they've been trying for 20 years and the two sides left to their own device will never reach a resolution. they need outside help. they need a media recommit the need an arbiter, the united states to play the role of an outside broker and facilitator

of this deal. and that will never happen if the political space in this country is not created to allow the united states to play that role so that is the second challenge. how do we create the political space in the country that allows politicians and policymakers to pursue a course that leads to the two state solution that's in the best interest of those of us who care about the state of israel because for too long, the politicians and policy makers in this town have heard only one voice from the jewish community. and as i say in the book represents the loudest 8% of our community. now, not meaning to say only 8% of those in the community hold right of center more hawkish it is a large percentage, but the people who engage in israel advocacy and as the centerpiece of their political life, as the centerpiece of their political and advocacy activity, they are well to the right of the

mainstream of the american jewish community and we see this in poll after poll after poll and again i lay out the data in the book we just issued a poll last thursday that was put on the american jewish opinion. american jews to support the president, they support to state solution, they are opposed to the settlements, they want an active american role in helping to resolve the conflict. these are all things you wouldn't believe and you wouldn't think are true if you listen to the abundance and the media and the voices that purport to speak. so as i see in the book, to rewrite the rules of american politics when it comes to israel and to give the rest of us a voice in this conversation in the political dynamics and that is the second challenge. there is in the american jewish community itself because it is not just in the political sphere that this dynamic cabins and a small group of people blocks of the debate and tries to speak for everybody else. is in the american jewish community and the stylish

organized community as well. think no one in this room would disagree with the notion that to put to jews in the room and you get three opinions. i don't know how many are in this room that you give hundreds of opinion. people are known for argumentation and debate and discussion and a disagreement and it's a beautiful thing. it is what the basis of our culture and tradition and learning come from. yet somehow these people so filled with ideas and opinions and energy supposed to have only one opinion? when it comes to israel which is such a divisive and difficult question to grapple with in the first place. but no, we are told with in the american jewish community that to disagree with the policies of the government of the state of israel that somehow outside of the pro-israel tent, and that needs to change because that is not only bad for the community. it's going to turn off a whole new generation of young people who cannot think that way.

and i say in the book i think that there are a number of generational explanations for why we act the way we do as a community. and i think over time those are older than me remember world war ii. they remember personally or their parents' experience in the holocaust. they remember the creation of the state of israel and the war that was fought for israel's existence. those are those older than me. those that are younger than me have no personal recognition of those defense. for them, the reality today is of the intifada and israel no longer has the david but as the goliath and there is a fast generational difference in the perception and experience it is involved and i think the american jewish community doesn't come to embrace that and understand and provide space for a broad conversation that may at times be difficult but in the and i think would be very beneficial to the community i

think it is sowing the seeds of its own institutional demise and i leave that out as the third challenge in the book. but really in the and i didn't write this book to tell my personal story, i didn't read this book simply to lay out challenges and out line problems. i leave out the book to sound the alarm, to sound the alarm and inspire action. i am so deeply afraid that the pass that israel is on today is a path that leads ultimately to tragedy. as i say in the subtitle of the book, i think we are fighting for the survival of the jewish nation today. and that if we do not within the next few years, within the next decade find some way to reach a two-stage solution while wood is still possible i think it will slip out of our fingers and we will rule the day that we did not stand up and scream and holler at the top of our lungs and say something must be done. so ultimately, this book i who

was a call to action to first the israeli government and to the israeli people. as your cousins and ask your friends and the people who have donated and spoken on behalf of israel for our entire last 60 years year, we are telling you the truth. the time has come to change the status quo before it is too late and it's time for the american people. we can't do anything here, but we can speak out and tell the truth. secondly, as jewish americans, we can acknowledge these complexities, we can do more than simply give lip service to peace, give lip service to the two-stage solution. we should be holding emergency meetings in the community, not to discuss whether or not criticism of israel should be acceptable. no, we should be holding the meetings to discuss the substance of the criticism. we are debating the size of the

pro-israel tent and it is burning down around us. and this time for our communities to wake up and address the threat otherwise we are going to regret it the way my father's generation regreted not acting in advance of world war ii to save the europeans. feared, the american government, the final call to action. the american policy establishment knows what needs to be done to resolve this conflict. almost everyone in this rule if i gave you 60 seconds, you could write down the out one of the two state solution in line with what president clinton laid out, president bush laid out, president obama, with every single secretary of state believes the former national security advisers of both parties get together all the time and and right joined a bipartisan of heads which is a rare thing in this town in this day. we all know what needs to be done. but the american government is very good at giving speeches.

during good of laying out a vision. not quite so good at stepping forward and taking action and the time now is fraction. we need president of the united states and the congress to step forward to engage in the quartet and lay out parameters to say to the parties you must come to the table now. these are the parameters and we expect to hear before the september vote. so it is a time for action and it is a time for working together to avert a future that we don't want to regret. i will use this opportunity is there are many of you in the room to introduce in the back of the room are the regional director ann gregory who is waging and the political director over here. either one of them would be happy to talk about campaign going on right now. which is called the two state summer campaign to try to let our elected officials know that we do support the president's vision for the two states and based on the '67 lines of the swaps, this is the time for us to step forward and mobilizing the act and that is my hope for the book is that dewaal treated

as a lament, as a catalog of il's, has a list of all the problems we face but it is a vision of hope, call to action and hopefully a guidepost as we move forward in our effort to save the future of the state of israel. some think you very much for coming and i look forward to the questions. [applause] >> thank you so much. we will open it up to questions. before we do that, jeremy has given us a full and comprehensive speech or talk, presentation. i want to take a minute to thank the camera people from c-span, who just had so much to the civil and civilizing discourse in the country. so thank you for being here. if your comfortable. >> i joined americans for peace now and i joined j street as soon as i heard about it.

i think it is a wonderful idea. do you think that barack obama should push a little harder, that he shouldn't have backed down on the settlements so quickly? i mean, he has tools at his disposal as george h. w. bush did threatened to withhold money or would that push all of the israelis into the trenches? and make them more recalcitrant than ever. >> i would separate the two parts of the question. the president could push harder. he could be working with a quartet instead of trying to soften the language of the parameter the court had just laid out to make them line up with his speech. and as i said before, make a clear demand to both parties. both israelis and palestinians. the need to come to the table with him and the quartet to solve this according to the following parameters. i don't think it works to threaten to cut off aid. i don't think that those kind of

negative pressures within his boycotts, divestment, sanctions, cutting off aid. we at j street haven't felt those are tools that make any sense. the undercut the feeling of security the israelis need in order to make the deal but we think the president could be pushing harder and that is part of our call to action. thank you. >> i have two questions. 1i just want to say i am a supporter of j street and i do agree with your positions but i have two questions. one is why hasn't j street come and have they spoken out about the move for the u.n. to approve of the palestinian state unilaterally, and what is j street's position on that? and secondly, i have a number of jewish american friends who say it is not for us to decide for

the israelis what they should do. if we want to do that we should go to israel and be a resident of there and be an israeli. it is not for america to say what they should or should not do. how would you answer that? ..

armas recent trip to the palestinian authority we asked him about the u.n. and he is been very publicly opposed to this because he said nothing will change on the ground the next day, so that position right now is there is a window. we have got six to eight weeks before the u.n. meets and votes. the quartet and the americans have been meeting with the israelis and palestinians trying to find a formula in order to get going again on a diplomatic initiative a serious diplomatic initiative. we have had enough of process. we need peace so we are talking about a serious, meaningful initiative to happen in the next six to eight weeks that would be for a u.n. vote to such time as it ratifies an actual agreement between the parties so that is their position on the u.n..

it doesn't in and and of itself or solve anything and it doesn't move the ball forward to have a resolution passed. can i answer your second question first and then i will leave it to the moderator to decide. so the second question i get a lot of which is, what write to americans have to speak out on these issues? my answer to this is, obviously the decisions at the end of the day rest with the people who live there. it is a democracy. the israeli people live there. they suffered the burdens and they will have to make these decisions on their own. they are what i call preferred shareholders in the center price but i think we have a stake too. we have been partners in building that country and securing it and building an alliance with the united uniteds and raising money, sending her kids there on birthright trips, being asked to lobby. we are partners. we may be common shareholders not the preferred shareholders but we have the right and a voice in this discussion even as the decisions are made over

there. and this is an american debate. so with the right of center in our community has the right to lobby in washington d.c. to make his views heard in the american political process and their pressure is going to skew a american politics and policy we have every right as americans to speak out here about american policy to say what we think is the right direction for the united states, so we are american citizens participating in the american debate about what american publicity should be. i think we are taking them from the microphone. my apologies, but there is a line. it is for the tv. >> i really appreciate your putting this position forward. a couple of things. you choose. what is the resistance? i keep hearing it is the hasidic element that has too much power and hangs on. that is one thing. what kind of reaction are you

getting from the palestinians regarding this? and, the right of palestinians, in in other words if you get of a state does that mean it cancels out the palestinians from returning? and then finally, your choice, finally, economic development is going to be absolutely crucial to any solution to this thing, regardless of whether or not the two states. is there any kind of thinking to set up some kind of a joint economic development thing? i know that is jumping way ahead and you don't even have the state yet, but i think some hope has to be offered that it is not just to unequal states that will never be able to live side-by-side. >> i think i remember three of the four. the source of the resistance within the american jewish community i think is very

understandable, which is there are people that have suffered a great deal. we have a legacy of generation after generation having enemies. we have been wiped out in various different places. i think it is rooted in our communal psyche to have a very heightened sense of security and fear and i think that emotional side of us controls the rational side at times. and i think that is totally understandable and i think we need to address that to make this case. that you are going to be more secure in reaching this agreement. you are going to be more secure if you are accepted into the national security. you will be less secure if you are a pariah state. you'll be you will be less secure if there's a majority of dallas to enhance living in your geographical area. their assistance is understandable because of the sense of fear that is real and rooted in history. the palestinian reaction to this has been understandably positive from those who are reasonable

moderate palestinians interested any two-state solution and there are many. one of the misconceptions of this debate in this country is there is no partner, nobody to talk to. there is a whole segment, a large segment of palestinian society that is a mirror image of a large segment of israeli society and has suffered a great deal and they too have emotions and fears and insecurities but they understand that the end of the day what is best for them and their family and their kids is to reach a peaceful resolution. there has been tremendous reaction from the moderate wing of the palestinian community and yes there has to be economic development. one of the miracles that has taken place under salam. under west bank has been eight or 9% economic annual growth. i've visited ramallah many times and i've never seen it as vibrant and development and cranes and economic development. right of return? we are opposed to the right of

return. that would obviously decimate the concept of the state of the jewish people. there should be wednesday for the palestinian people in muncie for the jewish people and one of the bottom lines of reaching an end to this conflict is in and knowledge meant that all claims have been settled and there will be compensation for those who have been wronged and lost their property in their homes but if they are going to return to a home it is going to be returning to a home in their homeland which is a state of palestine living next door to the state of israel. >> has j street or any other progressive organization that you know of thought about the primary and general election congressional races in the house and the senate? have you thought about which candidates to back and which not

to? the reason i ask is i am convinced that you won't get anything from president obama for the next certainly not until the presidential election. netanyahu is too smart for obama. he has been willing to humiliate obama, as in the extension of the settlement freeze, and obama is up for re-election. so. >> i get the drift of the question. the whole purpose of j street is to engage politically. what was lacking in this political discussion prior to the creation of j street was a political action committee and a lobby that would actually raise money and and doors, raise money for and endorse candidates who

support sensible pro-israel pro-peace position so we created a j street pack and in the last two cycles we have made it into the largest pro-israel pac in the country. on our web site you can find out more about our pack and find out more about the candidates who we have endorsed in past cycles and we are going to endorse in the 2012 cycle. we endorsed 61 candidates for the house and senate. last psychowe raise $1.5 million which is the third a third of all the money. >> i can jb did. >> you know that is what we do and that is how we hope to shift the dynamics over time. this is a steep mountain and it is not an easy lift. we are making tremendous progress. we have 180,000 members of j street and are the laches pack with a staff of 50 people. it will be through the political change that we create the ability for a president like barack obama to stand strong and do the right thing. thank you. >> get down to the district

level. thank you. >> absolutely. >> talk about the rare consensus in congress and indeed with the government about the issue of the two state plan. it would seem like a ministry. how come with this consensus there is no movement? if we don't actually expose the elephant in the room here, or what is going on in politics here but is not mentioned, almost not mentioned at all. talking about the influence, the blocking influence of the jewish lobby and its extension into power and the power that the israeli embassy has over the conference for the jewish residents etc.. it is reality and it exerts a lot of power over the decision-making in the jewish

community. and it wasn't mentioned. i know that it is a fact there. so, it should be talked about. and they really put a lot of power against any type of change. it is a reality that if they move any leader, move away from the direction the embassy decides -- but that is the right line, you are sanctioned. the question is -- let me -- what does the democracy, how do you approach that sensitive issue? it is a real issue, the main issue i would say. >> it is an elfin and it is a donkey. it is bipartisan. look, i addressed it address it very directly in the book. it is not a ministry. it is not shrouded in any secrecy. the fact that american politicians depend for their re-election on money is a

central reality of american politics today. all of us would agree that is what warps us on health health e policy. it is what warps us on energy policy. the role of money in politics warps the policymaking process in this country and leads us to bad results. on this issue, it is the fear over what jewish voters and jewish donors bank that has american politicians in a bind because behind closed doors and when they are talking off the record, they will say one thing about what they actually believe and what they know and when they have to go out front and talk to a public audience they will say something else. so what we have to do is change that dynamic. it goes back to the prior question. until we tour the moderate, rational people in the community can raise enough money and show that we have political power we are not going to change that

dynamic. it is the rulebook of american policy. this is the way the game is played until there were rules will rules are changed by people like david cohan we are not going to be old to say we don't like the rules. we have to play by those rules and show how powerful we are and how many of us are. we have to get organized and speak up more effectively than we do. let me take some others. there is a long line, so thank you. >> good evening. first of all i would just like to say it is the first time i have heard of your group and i appreciate what you are doing. i do have a few points that you could consider issues of concern so i will just say them and leave them to you whether you wish to address them. i heard no mention of jerusalem and the discussion. as you i am sure now during the 40s and 50s when jordan controlled jerusalem she was not even allowed there. they were not even allowed to go to the wailing wall. jewish historic gravesites were desiccated throughout the area.

i don't believe that feeling has changed, and even with the two state system to which i'm not opposed, i wonder how if you a few are engaging the effect on that on the surrounding countries? the second is, your insistence on a political arena -- i wonder what that arena is where israel will get a share -- fair shake? i certainly don't see that in the united nations so i just wonder what you mean by that? the third that concerned me was your speaking as if you mentioned, and i thought it was a good analogy at the end of the bad marriage, the two partners alone aren't able to see themselves through this settlement let us say. i think, if you have the oslo accords that are still standing, just not acted on, you have many other accords account david innumerable times. you have other agreements that have been tried and you have other countries besides those that have stepped in to mediate on behalf or in good faith i

would say. it is not as if this has not been asked for done before. the problem is they have never move forward and in fact many would argue the palestinian uprising was staged in many senses because of the fact that a two state agreement was very close to settlement. so, i just wonder kind of how you see your way through those particular issues, and i would just like to say in closing the only thing that is standing, the only thing that is work, the only treaty, the only agreement through all of this for the camp david accords more or less on their own side of the fence. and that did involve money. thank you, sir. >> thank you are good jerusalem. i couldn't feel more attached to any city in the world. i lived there for three years. my great grandparents lived there. my parents are buried on the mount of olives which was one of the territories on the other side of the line. i am deeply concerned about the issues you are raising.

the solution for jerusalem has to be though that it is the capital of both peoples. the eastern parts of the city today, 28 our villages that were annexed in 1968. those of villages remain in the 2011 arab villages. my family went to look at the overlook from big promenade there and i asked my kids, can you tell which part is arab in which part is jewish? you can still tell. it is easy enough to say this part belongs to the and this part alongside the palestinians and that is the capital of them and this is the capital of us. the holy area which is one square kilometer and that is the toughest nut to crack, ehud olmert the former prime minister put forward a proposal for an internationalization of that area. this was the idea back before the first u.n. resolution. i believe it is the only way to go with the holiest areas where

international community including israelis and palestinians and others overseas a minister so all religions have free and equal access to their holy sites. i think there is a resolution. it requires sharing a city that i love, city that i think is the holiest place on earth but so do other people. i am talking about the political arena of the united united statd i'm talking about dad being opened up so the discussion can take place freely so america's national interest can be pursued so all sides of an argument can be heard and so that we don't have resolutions passing that are overwhelmingly one-sided that don't advance america's interests and passing 400-5 because 300 members of the congress feel intimidated into voting for something they don't agree with. that does not serve our interest. you are right, the solution is known and i said that i might talk or if i could outline it for you in 60 seconds and i'm assuming many of the pumas room could. what is missing is the political

will. we have never had a constellation where you had a palestinian leader, an israeli leader and american leader who were on the same page ready to take it forward. there is always been the missing piece so i think the political will has to come for the united states and we have the ability to help put the palestinians and the israelis to move forward where they may be reluctant at times and we have to make -- work in concert with our allies and the international communities. >> yesterday i went to her doug waxman and leon public at the middle east institute who interestingly enough for introducing their new book. and if i could characterize the main theme of the book, they are basically saying that a two-state solution is necessary but is not sufficient. and that's what is also required is an accommodation with --

within israel and with israeli palestinians. one that recognizes the continued jewish character of israel, but at the same time finds the means to recognize the dignity of the palestinians as well. and basically i think what they are saying is that the trend in israel is moving in precisely the opposite direction. the right wing is in ascendancy and that this is a major issue and until a resolution can be devised, the two-state solution and of itself is not going to be sustainable. this is getting much less attention at the international level for a think clearly fair reasons but it nonetheless strikes me as an important issue and i guess i'm interested in one way you agree and two, what does this mean in terms of how we proceed?

>> let me say first of all i won hundred% agree. i know the authors well and i appreciate their work. i talk about the internal and external challenges facing israel as two sides of the coin, that is the future of israel. there is no future for israel as a jewish and a democratic state that is secure and living within recognized boundaries if it doesn't deal with both sides of the coin. one side of the coin is that has to reach peace with all its neighbors and it needs borders that are accepted by the neighbors and recognized by the whole world. that is one part of the puzzle for the future but the other part for those of us who care deeply about israel is the internal. it is the domestic health, the vibrancy of the democracy, the adherence to jewish values in practice where finally have power. do they keep up what they said when we were a minority and we

said you know the minority should really be treated well. they should be given equal rights. you shouldn't have systems where you have preferences for those in power. we thought that was a good thing when we were in the minority. how about when we are in power? so i couldn't agree more. they're wonderful organizations like the u.s. is real fun that focus on the internal strength of israel. i viewed j street's partnership with the new israel fund is two sides of that coin a need vote that we are going to ensure there is a country there for our kids and grandkids if it will we will be proud of. >> good evening. at a chance to read your book and i deeply appreciate it. i was wondering if you could talk a little bit about teaching a nuanced view on the conflict from day school, from jewish day schools, sunday schools. how should teachers go about teaching the nuanced view while remaining sensitive to the development of israel?

>> the good news for all of you is he only bought the book at the beginning of this talk his talk any authority finished it. that is how quick of a read it is. [laughter] since you are going to be one of the teachers of my kids that are religious school i had better come up with a good answer for you, right? i think you have to tell the truth. you know, i think that is one of the things that i found in my own personal development that i resented, was never being given the whole story. and the mythology is wonderful. but, when you find out it is mythology, the reaction against it is a far far harsher and more extreme than the difficulties that you encounter if you hear the truth from the beginning. so i just advocate that we be open and honest. my kids know there are people called the palestinians. they were there too and they

think it is their land. we think it is our land. everybody has a narrative and we are never going to agree. we don't have to agree on the narrative. we can except that we each have our own narratives and there is one land and to people and just like anything else the kids deal with a are going to have to deal with it together and share it. i think it is a lesson that is very appropriate for kids to start learning from an early age. >> hello. i am not as eloquent a speaker as he will but i want to make my case. correct me if i'm wrong but i had the feeling that while you spoke, in spite of your family background, anytime you mention israel, it was with some sense of negativity for some reason. that is my feeling and you can correct me on that. now, when it comes to the rest

of my -- i'm going to start from the fall of the ottoman empire because this would take forever with the petition of the middle east. but let's just roll the clock back to 1967. before 1967 nobody heard of a palestinian nation. nobody heard of the palestinian land because -- was part of jordan and the gaza strip as part of the region. here comes the egyptian president who cuts a deal with the syrian president and they attack israel in 1967. israel is smart enough and powerful enough to take over and and and to win the case. not only that, people are saying it was offered to join the party and become the liberator of jerusalem. he jumped on that crippled carriage and actually he lost the west bank. the next thing he annexes the

west bank. he signed a peace treaty with egypt. at egypt reviews refused to take the gaza strip. so if we just go backward, israel was forced upon the 67 war -- israel is definitely not the aggressor. it just happened that they made it. just one last thing, if you go a little bit to the north and you traveled there to go along heights there are several bunkers -- i know them very well. they fire on israeli farmers that plow the fields down in the valley. so when the go along heights was taken at the end of the war, it eventually vanish. i don't see any case to return

anything because don't believe for one minute that i am not for peace in the whole world. but, this peace in israel is very sketchy and the last thing i can say -- one thing. i have seen children's books from syria after the 67 war and i saw a children's book from egypt. they all teach the kids how to kill and i cannot forget one sketch, one graphics. it was the land of israel which was very recognizable and syrian soldier, a brave soldier with a rifle and a bayonet stabs the land. that is what they show in kindergarten and books in schools. >> okay, thank you. several things you have raised. number one on the whole issue of negativity, i don't know how you can sit here for this time and

say that i don't have a deep -- i urge you to buy the book, read it. i deeply, deeply hope that you will come out of that recognizing my love and my awe at what has been achieved. number one, number one. number two, too often people in the discussions around this issue talk about rolling back the clock and looking backwards and arguing over what happened in 67 and what happened in 48 and i will grant you everything you said. so we don't have to argue but i will stipulate the history. to me the question is the future. the only thing that we can change -- you and i could argue for the rest of the days and it will not change the past. we can change the future, so to me the question is, let's say you except what accept what you say which is there was no such thing as a palestinian.

it is nobody stay. it is our land, we won it so how are is israel going to make it? you are going to have a minority of jewish people ruling over land that has a majority of non-jewish people. how is that we are going to be a jewish home and a democracy without a palestinian state? i don't want you to give the answer now but that is my challenge back to you is, i don't want to argue in this book does not argue about the past. this is a moment to decide about the future because the only thing that we can't effect is where we go from here. i will stipulate all the facts that you said even though i disagree with them. in terms of the military threat, as i said i've just been spending the day with seven former generals and diplomatic officials and security officials in the state of israel. you know the question, what is the threat in 2011? what is the threat going forward? the keisha cici threats to israel are no longer a syrian

riflemen shooting from the top of the golan heights. it is the entirety of the world viewing israel as a pariah state and taking away his international legitimacy. that is one of the biggest or cici threats. long-range rockets. you don't need to go along heights anymore in order to fire rockets into israel. you just need a launcher out of anywhere in lebanon or seen perhaps even iraq. so the threats are not the same threats and so you don't need the same solutions. that is why prime minister netanyahu was willing to give back the go along heights you were talking about in order to have peace because peace with syria and peace with their neighbors is it much greater assurance of long-term security than holding on to the land. finally on the issue of children's books, look, this is a symptom of a disease. the disease is that there is tremendous hatred in this region and we have to acknowledge that. these people are enemies.

the only way to begin to resolve that overtime is to reach an agreement and to begin to undo those years of hatred. i don't deny that exists. i believe on the israeli side there is also a degree of hatred that exists. both sides have it. they are both victims. they both bought for three generations of i think the way to deal with that is to end this conflict and to move forward, so i think you have had your chance. >> let's just remember one thing [applause] >> not fair. >> there are three people in line and we are going to hear from all of them and bring it to an end. >> thank you. diane perlman. i just returned from turkey a few days ago and first i was there for the international society political psychology and many israelis ask about j street and they really appreciate j street as i do so tank is for your work. the other thing whe