by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Bureau Chief/PMB

April 03, 2008

A Princeton University student group recently marked Israel’s 60th anniversary by initiating an intergenerational celebration of the Jewish state.

Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ Dist. 12) headlined the March 27 event at Princeton’s Prospect House. It brought together some 80 Israel advocates and activists, including leaders from the student, faculty, political, diplomatic, governmental, and religious communities.

The spur for the evening was an initiative by Princeton freshman Addie Lerner of Newton, Mass., leader of a nine-member political cohort from Tigers for Israel, which was formerly known as PIPAC, the Princeton Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Lerner is a graduate of the Saban National Political Leadership Training Seminar conducted by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which cosponsored the event along with the university’s Center for Jewish Life/Hillel.

“Since we only really formed in January, this is our first big initiative,” Lerner said in an interview before the program. “We’re a subset of Tigers for Israel focusing on United States-Israel relations and initiatives.

“We’re hoping to show student leaders that their support for this issue is very much appreciated,” she said. “We also hope to show the university community and the community at large that the United States-Israel relationship is an important issue.”

Corzine, in his remarks, emphasized the importance of the Tigers for Israel initiative and of raising one’s voice in support of Israel.

“I think it is absolutely vital that we speak up,” he said. “We are the closest of allies.… The United States has to hold true to that relationship.

“What you all are doing is incredibly important, and for New Jersey, it’s even more important,” the governor said. He pointed to the success of the NJ-Israel Commission and to the “living relationship” and strong partnership between Israeli and New Jersey businesses.

“We have an incredibly vital, historic link between the Jewish people and Israel across our state,” Corzine said. “Our futures are tied together.”

Holt spoke about “the ever-strengthening relationship” between Israel and the United States.

“The United States has stood with Israel in its darkest hour, in 1973, and stood with Israel when the Scuds were raining down, and even today, when Hizbullah rockets are raining down,” the congressman said.

“As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, I’m really proud that the United States and Israel have kept this special relationship,” he said. “We have a responsibility to help Israel not just survive, but thrive. I strongly believe in the dream that has become the reality of Israel.”

Sharon Regev, consul for public affairs at the Israeli consulate in New York, warned the gathering of the threat to Israel from state-sponsored terrorism.

“There is no better time to cultivate and support the State of Israel, but there is also no more important time,” the consul said. “The greatest threat to Israel comes from Iran.

“This is a critical, critical time for us,” she said, “and with the support of people like you, we will not only overcome these challenges, we will thrive.”

The evening was made possible by a grant from the Jewish Funders Network, according to Rabbi Julie Roth, executive director of Center for Jewish Life/Hillel.

“I think it’s absolutely terrific that this many people came together to talk about Israel and the relationship between Israel and the United States,” said Trenton attorney Lionel Kaplan, former AIPAC president and board chair. “And it’s terrific to see young people involved.”

The final speaker of the evening, Princeton senior Rob Biederman of Chappaqua, NY, spoke about the power of his generation to stand up for Israel.

“For the first time, our generation will have an opportunity to change the world,” said Biederman, immediate past president of Princeton’s undergraduate student government. “We no longer need to scream to be heard. We need to make sure that politicians are hearing the right message from us about Israel.”

Biederman’s imperative was one that resonated with Corzine. “I think the young gentleman got it right,” the governor said in a brief interview as he was departing Prospect House. “We better make sure our generation passes the torch — and passes the torch of the ties between the United States and Israel.”

Also among the community leaders at the gathering were Andrea Yonah, executive director of the NJ-Israel Commission; Adelia Malmuth, field organizer for the AIPAC national office; Rabbi Eitan Webb, director of Chabad on Campus at Princeton; Sheila Kurtzer, wife of Princeton professor Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Israel; and Nobel Prize-winning economist Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study, who has just been named director of the Victor Rothschild Memorial Symposium, the Summer School in Economic Theory at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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