Opening Remarks by Avinoam Bar-Yosef
Published ינו 24, 2012
Avinoam Bar-Yosef
Good evening. Thank you for being with us to welcome back together a dear friend. What makes Dennis so special and valuable to everyone: to his wife Debby and his family, to us at JPPI, to his counterparts in discussions and negotiations, to the five American presidents he has served – their chiefs of staff, secretaries of state and national security advisers?
I won't speak now about his creativity or his strategic mind, I'll just make a couple of observations.
Mahatma Gandhi distinguished between two types of people: those who work and those who take credit; he recommended trying to be in the first group as it is less crowded. No doubt, Dennis took his advice.
If I may, as a former journalist who observed policy makers and political figures for decades, a distinction I have used –sometimes cynically— is between those who are driven by blind ambition, and those who are driven by motivation and vision, like Dennis. This is my second observation.
And the third: George Bernard Shaw advised to keep yourself clean and bright as you are the window, through which you must see the world. In the last 24 years since I first met Dennis at the transition team offices of George H.W. Bush, I’ve understood, like many, that his first quality is professional integrity, and his supreme judge is the mirror he shaves in front of every morning! As we all know, there are not many left like him in the political arena. I must say that we were blessed to have him replaced by another great statesman, Ambassador Stu Eizenstat, who besides serving as a great chairman of the Institute, just completed a significant work at JPPI on the global challenges of the 21st century, published by the Institute. You will find copies of the book on the table in front.
We were confident that Dennis would be back with the Institute after completing his term in the Obama White House. We want to thank him for accepting Stu’s offer to join him as co-chair. With such leadership, JPPI can only move forward, and only gain more gravitas and professional legitimacy in the Jewish world.
Dennis was a central pillar without whom we could not have established this institute, but there are also many others who helped us get where we are, and I want to thank a few of them: Leonid Nevzlin, JPPI's dedicated associate chair; Sallai Meridor for his vision; the legendary Yehezkel Dror, JPPI’s founding president, for his professional guidance and for establishing the highest standard of quality for our work; Natan Sharansky for his unwavering commitment and support. Special thanks to Ita Alcalay who has been with us since the beginning, and who has put up with me – sometimes graciously. One is absent tonight, the late Alex Grass, former chairman of the JAFI board of governors, who was so significant in understanding the need for, and the mission of a think tank focused on locating the points of intervention, to ensure the thriving of the Jewish civilization, with Israel at its core.
Now I would like to raise a glass to Dennis in honor of his return – with the knowledge that he may need to answer his country’s call to service again in the future. His life has shown that transitions are the norm. I can’t hide my personal feelings tonight. Dennis, I have learned so much from you and I’ve developed a real personal affection for you, and as you know, for your family too. You have made so many contributions to your country, the United States, never losing sight of your place in the Jewish people. Lately, you have made a new contribution to both, when your grandson Dan Alon joined the tribe. I would also like to toast Olessia and Leonid Nevzlin on the birth of their new twin daughters, Ella and Eden. They have two very good reasons for not making it tonight.
Dennis, one of the lessons I’ve learned from you is that you need to leave every meeting having achieved something. What we’d like to take with us this evening is your analysis of the challenges facing the Middle East in 2012.
Tonight, we are privileged to have with us His Excellency, the US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, a real friend of the Institute and a former teammate of Ambassador Ross who will introduce our guest of honor.
