Israel is a "far better" country than most others, Dan Gillerman, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., said today in a speech to journalists gathered by the Israel Project to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday. Gillerman spoke in a 38th floor conference room at the powerhouse New York law firm, Skadden, Arps.
Quoth the Ambassador:
Each and every day when I walk the halls and corridors of the U.N… I walk with my head held up high because I know I represent a country that is far better than most other members of the United Nations. A country that has contributed, is contributing, and will continue to contribute to the world more than most other member states, a country that is contributing not just to itself and the Jewish people but to mankind and humanity in a huge way, a country that is making deserts bloom all over the world with its agriculture, that is making limbs move each and every day in the remotest corners of the world with its medicine, that is making the world a better place each and every day with its innovations and its patents, and its research, and its science and technology and indeed a country that is making the world each and every day a richer place with its art and with its culture….
So I’m very proud of what we did and what we accomplished in 60 years. And I think that… many of those 50 plus countries who still refuse to recognize us, some of whom waged war on us the day we declared our independence 60 years ago and are still at war with us, should really ask themselves why it is that we are where we are today and they are where they are today. And I’m saying that with great, great sadness because I think it’s a tragedy. I think it’s a tragedy for the peoples of those countries who have dealt a really rough deal by the leaderships they receive, and it is a very sad reality for our region and for the world that those countries do not participate in the richness and the wealth of opportunity which this world is providing and which Israel is excelling in.
A few comments. 1, Superiority complexes are damaging, both to the holders of those complexes and the people they look down on. 2, Definitions of success that turn so much on material/technological accomplishments are soulless and (while reflective of the globalist values of The Israel Project and Gillerman’s background in business) hurtful to Jewish tradition. 3, I don’t live in the Middle East, but if someone started talking like this about Mexicans, we’d say the guy is racist.
