Ms. Post, Professor Penchas, Ambassador Avital, Ms. Popkin, ladies and gentlemen.

Good evening. I am honored to be with you tonight and join Hadassah's Mission for the 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel. As you know, our purpose tonight is two-fold: we're here to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the State, we also mark the anniversary of a truly incredible organization: Hadassah--which was founded-as the very name makes clear--on Purim in 1912.

For over 85 years, Hadassah has been a force in providing quality healthcare and education both during the Yishuv and after the founding of the State. With astounding commitment it helped build, from scratch, a system that is now recognized the world over for excellence and quality healthcare.

The founder of Hadassah, Henrietta Szold,[ZOLD] was the eldest daughter of a distinguished Baltimore Rabbi. She traveled to Palestine in 1910. According to her diary from that trip, the medical conditions she found here were appalling.

Miss Szold, along with nine other women, determined to do something about that. They founded Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. Their original goals were very pragmatic: The women formed a study group that focused on raising money for medical services in Palestine that would serve all of the local citizens.

In 1913 two nurses sailed for Palestine under the sponsorship of the new organization and began setting up a network of mother and child centers known as tipat chalav-'A drop of milk'.

After the First World War, Hadassah funded the American Medical Expedition. A team of doctors and nurses, they were the very beginnings of what ultimately evolved into a world class, nationwide healthcare system.

Ms. Szold moved here in the 1920's. In addition to working with the medical team, she also established vocational education services which would provide medical training as well as ensure that women would have the opportunity to learn and study. From her initiative, Hadassah's emphasis on education has continued.

Professor Shmuel Penchas-here with us tonight-has said that he remembers when he was a kid getting American emergency food supplies that the U.S. Government distributed through Hadassah Hospitals in 1947 and '48. He specifically remembers the KRAFT cheese, for some reason. His story illustrates not only how long the U.S. Government has been committed to Israel, but also the special relationship between America and Hadassah.

Hadassah Hospitals here share information and research, and even doctors-through a physicians exchange program-with numerous hospitals across the United States. Hadassah has, since the beginning, maintained American standards, and practiced the type of medicine practiced in the U.S.

As for me, I have a special tie with Hadassah. When I was posted to Saudi Arabia years ago, my son began to suffer from periodic attacks of cramps accompanied by a high fever. Our doctors were mystified until one said he had read an article about some research that was going on at Hadassah Hospital in Israel. The symptoms seemed familiar to him. So I sent my son off to Hadassah, at that time no easy feat from Saudi Arabia, and he met with Dr. Ya'acov Matzer of the medical school. Dr. Matzer not only diagnosed the condition but also started a treatment regime which relieves the symptoms and the resulting damage which used to lead to an early death. So I owe a lot to Dr. Matzer, Hadassah, Ms. Szold and all of you who made this institution the great hospital and research center it has become.

When I toured Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in February with Marlene Post and Professor Penchas, I found a hospital with an outstanding and dedicated staff and cutting edge medical equipment to be sure. What impressed me most, though, wasn't a piece of miracle medical technology-it was their intense focus on teaching medical professionals. So much of Hadassah Medical Organization is committed to teaching: from the schools of Pharmacy and Nursing, to those of Medicine, Occupational Therapy and Public Health.

On my tour I also saw many Palestinians from the neighborhood and I learned that 15 percent of all the patients treated are Palestinians. I think that's an impressive statement about the Organizations commitment to serving the community. It is also representative of the spirit of the peace process which we are working hard to encourage.

In fact, right now Israel and its Palestinian partners are engaged together in an effort to take another step toward a normal national existence. What's at stake for institutions like Hadassah? Certainly, a real, secure and lasting peace will allow for stunning further progress in the fields of medicine, education and research. Look at all that Hadassah and Israel have accomplished while under the enormous constraints and uncertainties of the past. Consider what you can do with a future free of such constraints.

What do I mean by a "real, secure, and lasting peace?" I believe that Israel and its Arab partners have already defined the framework for such a peace, through agreements ranging from the Camp David agreement to the Hebron accord. So, when we deal with the daily crises -- and opportunities -- that are inevitable components of this process, we might want to remember how much has already been accomplished.

Anniversaries are natural times to take stock of history. Tonight we celebrate Israeli Statehood and the founding of Hadassah. We should also note another anniversary this year that is vitally important in the history of Israel: It has been twenty years since the Camp David Accords were agreed upon.

The signing of that document was a remarkable achievement for Israel. It fundamentally changed the nature of this region and helped this country move another step toward a normal national existence.

Today, the state of peace between Egypt and Israel is accepted and honored by both sides. It may not be all that it can be, but it is secure and beneficial to both sides.

Since Camp David, the peace with Egypt has opened other opportunities and has now been joined by Israel's peace treaty with Jordan, Israel's new contacts with nations in the Gulf, North Africa, and other parts of the world, and by the public participation of Israeli diplomats and business leaders at major economic conferences in Casablanca, Amman, Cairo, and Doha.

The course ahead is not inevitable. There are powerful and perhaps growing forces that are aligned against peace. The forces of intolerance, hatred, fear, greed and envy are at work and their expression is terror.

But I believe that there will be peace. There will be peace because it makes more sense than violence. There will be peace because Israelis and Arabs can make a better life through cooperation than through conflict. There will be peace because tolerance is a higher calling than hatred. And there will be peace because of the efforts of institutions like Hadassah which draw people together for their common good.

If you think for a minute objectively about the fact of the existence of Israel, in the context of the history of this century alone, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the accomplishment.

Over the past fifty years, the citizens of this nation have done more than merely survive -- they have transformed Israel into a democratic, multi-cultural, and economically prosperous country. I started my diplomatic career here, almost three decades ago, as a young foreign service officer. It seemed back then that the strength of the country was in its people. And so it is today, people like Dr. Matzer and Professor Penchas and all the people of Hadassah who are the true heroes of Israel. These are the people who have transformed Israel and who are making the dreams of peace and good neighborliness a reality.

And I am convinced that the unwavering support that the American government and people have given to Hadassah and to Israel has helped and will continue to help make the Israeli dream a reality. I am bemused by the tendency of some observers to stick a thermometer into our bilateral relationship and take our temperature on a daily basis. This tendency demonstrates a basic misunderstanding of the strength of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, which exists independent of yesterday's or tomorrow's headlines.

The United States and Israel have enjoyed unbreakable bonds of friendship since the first moments of Israeli independence, as Professor Penchas can attest. The American-Israeli partnership is special among our ties to foreign nations. However you might calculate such matters - joint programs to develop sophisticated weapons, shared values of human rights and democracy, or even emergency food supplies sent a half century ago--Israel occupies a unique place in the hearts of our government and our people.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said on his recent trip to Europe that Americans and Israelis have a unique bond. Not because of the large Jewish population in the United States, he said, but because we see the same promise for Israel that we have always felt for our country. I believe he is right.

I wonder if Henrietta Szold could have forseen that today we would be celebrating a truly incredible historical reality: The 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel.

I wonder if Henrietta Szold would be astounded to learn that Hadassah is the largest women's and volunteer organization in the United States, with over 300,000 members?

I wonder what she would say if you told her Israel is now a country of nearly 7 million people who enjoy a healthcare system on par with Europe and the United States?

Maybe she wouldn't be surprised at all. Perhaps people like Henrietta Szold simply believe that human progress is the natural result of hard work, commitment, tenacity and faith.

Thank you.