Three weeks ago, I said in a public statement Israel is here to stay. The next day I was attacked by the Cairo radio rebuking me for my faith in Israel and quoting this criticism from Arabic newspaper Al-Gomhouria:
"As for the question of the existence and nonexistence of Israel," the paper says, "Mr. Kennedy says that Israel has been created in order to exist. And we say that Israel will not continue to exist. Time will judge between us, Mr. Kennedy."
I agree. Time will judge between us whether Israel will continue to exist or not.
But I wish I could be as sure of my prophecy about this November as I am about my prophecy on this occasion.
It is worth remembering at this meeting that the cause of Israel stands beyond Jewish life. In our pluralistic society, as Bob Wagner pointed out, it has not been merely a Jewish cause, any more than Irish independence was the cause merely of those of Irish descent, because wherever freedom exists, there we are all committed. And wherever it is endangered, there we are all endangered.
The ideals of Zionism have, in the last half century, been endorsed by both parties, and by Americans of all ranks in all sections. Friendship for Israel is not a partisan matter. It is a national commitment.
Yet within this national obligation of friendship, there is a special obligation on the party of which I am a member. It was President Woodrow Wilson who prophesied with great wisdom a Jewish homeland. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who kept alive the hope of Jewish redemption in the days of the Nazi terror. It was President Harry Truman who first – my friend Harry Truman – who first recognized (I have only been able to say that since last Saturday, but I'm saying it), who first recognized the status of Israel in world affairs.
