State of Israel

Floor Speech

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Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record remarks submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his views:

The significant 75th anniversary of the State of Israel, the world's only Jewish state and a staunch U.S. ally, behooves to reflect on the major personality behind the only country whose people restored its sovereignty following 2,000 years of forced exile and oppression. While the modern Zionist movement with roots in 19th century Europe, saw the rebirth of Jewish statehood the solution to historical antisemitism culminating in the unfathomable Holocaust, the tormenting reality remains that antisemitism's deadly venom has not died out and is a potent force aimed at both Israel and world Jewry, with a precipitous rise in the U.S.

Against great odds Israel not only survived but has thrived, literally making the desert bloom and is the only source of Western and democratic enlightenment in the troubled Middle East. The world is a better place because Israel is in it, contributing to its progress in diverse ways. However, Israel is the only country threatened with annihilation since its inception. The terrorizing Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies challenge both Israel and the U.S. The Abraham Accords have broadened the scope of Israel's rapprochement with the Sunni Arab world that regards Israel an asset facing the common Iranian Shite threat. The complex conflict with the Palestinians awaits permanent peaceful solution, as Israel preserves its Jewish and democratic identity.

The latest critical biography by esteemed professors Motti Golani of Tel Aviv University and Jehuda Reinhartz of Brandies University (the Founding Father. Tel Aviv: Am Oved Publishers. 2020), establishes Dr. Chaim Weizmann (1874- 1952), the Zionist leader and Israel's first president, as the unquestionable founding father. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister and Weizmann's disciple and rival, read the Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, as the British departed. President Harry Truman, the first world leader to announce his critical support, only eleven minutes following the historic proclamation despite the State Department's opposition. Weizmann's ceaseless efforts secured Truman's support, saving the Negev region for the future state when showing the map to sympathetic Truman who requested that Weizmann become president. As the authors insightfully assert, ``A biography like history is a story of encounters.''

It was Dr. Weizmann, the East European Jewish scientist with a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Manchester and his inventive aid to the British in WWI coupled with dogged personal efforts and diplomatic skills, that paved the way for the first international breakthrough of the budding Zionist enterprise, the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 supporting a Jewish national home in Palestine. Weizmann's foremost goal was creating a Jewish state even if entailing territorial concessions to the Arabs, with steadfast concern for maintaining morality as he opposed Jewish terror against the British Mandate rulers of Palestine. He was a British citizen since 1910 and held that the British empire and the Jewish Zionist cause were mutually interdependent, later adding the United States as a desired friend and essential big brother.

Weizmann could not convince the United States to accept Jewish refugees after Hitler's rise to power, nor the British Eden and Churchill to bomb Auschwitz. He only partially attracted German Jewish scientists of Noble Prize stature to join the Hebrew University which he cofounded with Albert Einstein and Judah Magnes in 1925, as well as his Ziv Institute. Those scientists that Weizmann sought to save were blind to the coming disaster and not impressed with what was offered them, including Freud and Einstein. The Holocaust weighed heavily on Weizmann who had a complex bond with East European Jewry from which he emerged. It remained his ever- beloved family though Western Europe became his preferred physical and cultural home. He could not bring himself to visit the DP Camps and facilitated sending Ben-Gurion instead, strengthening his rival's stature. Yet, Ben-Gurion said about Weizmann, ``That the state did not make him but he made the state.''

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach. He is past president of the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors. He was born in Chu, Kazakhstan (USSR) to Polish Holocaust survivors who met in Siberia. Rabbi Zoberman and his family were at the Wetzlar DP Camp, Germany, American Zone, from 1947 to 1949. He grew up in Haifa, Israel.

His maternal great grandma, Rachel Leah, and the mother of Dr. Chaim Weitzmann, Rachel Leah, were first cousins.

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